


Operation: CLOWN

by Gamewizard2008



Series: Kids Next Door Gameverse [26]
Category: Codename: Kids Next Door, One Piece
Genre: Adventure, Giants, Kids, Punk Hazard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-08
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2018-09-02 21:31:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 43,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8684080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gamewizard2008/pseuds/Gamewizard2008
Summary: The 5th story of the Big Mom Saga, Operation: CLOWN, also called the Punk Hazard Arc. Children have mysteriously gone missing all over the world, and when Dillon York and his friends are among them, Sandman is on the case. They venture to Punk Hazard for the elusive kidnapper, Caesar Clown, and on their journey, Nolan may learn a few things.





	1. Caesar’s Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> GUN has captured a dangerous criminal named Caesar Clown. Interrogation doesn't go well.

**OH MY GOD, I just realized there was an “Operation: C.L.O.W.N.” in the actual _Kids Next Door_ series! Heh heh, oh well, ANYWAY, hey guys, welcome to another story, which ONCE again crosses over with _One Piece_. (Yeah, you know how _Kid Icarus_ was the main crossover of Viridi Saga? Well, _One Piece_ is the central crossover here.) Anyhoo, LET’S begin!**

****

**_

Chapter 1: Caesar’s Escape

_**

****

**G.U.N. H.Q., around 22 years ago**

Nighttime at GUN H.Q.. It was just another ordinary day as Commander Gunkan marched down the halls of his base, his face serious and stern. He approached two soldiers, who saluted, standing on either side of a black-haired man, in sunglasses and a thick white coat. The man spoke in a calm, quiet tone. “Gunkan-san…”

“Evening, General Vergo.” Gunkan nodded. “I assume you’ve brought the prisoner?”

“Yes… he is right there.” His head directed to the doorway.

The doors slid open as a group of soldiers marched in, pulling an up-right stretcher with a man strapped to it. _“Shurororororo.”_ He was a white-skinned man in a blackish-purple jumpsuit, with yellow polka dots. He had short, thick black hair, purple lips, and psychotic yellow eyes. On his head were strange goat horns, and he wore dark-blue gloves with the letters “CC”.

“Shurororororo.” The man laughed wickedly, wearing a wide, crazy grin on his face as the men rolled him down the hall.

“The chi-blocking cuffs are on him, right?” Gunkan asked.

“Yes.” Vergo assured as they walked along. “We can’t have _him_ running loose without them.”

“Heeey, Vergo! How’s the WIFE doing??” The prisoner asked excitedly. “Whoops! Sorry, wrong person! Shurororo!”

The group walked down several more halls as the man continued to speak. “Whoa, I really NEED to get me some new shoooes!” He looked at his dark-blue slip-on shoes and shook his feet. “A new suit, too! And maybe longer hair! I really am a slave to trends, shuroROROrororo!...”

“…and I said, Mark Hamill?? Well, what’s wrong with my JAPANESE voice actor?! I mean, it’s GREAT that I sound like a Joker, but-“

“-…and when did I AGREE to take part in some crummy writer’s fanfic?” He rambled as they finally came to a stop in a small room. “I mean, if this is the crap that PAYS, I demand to see a script first, ‘cause _I_ -“

“QUIET, Clown!” Gunkan demanded with a hateful look. “Now tell me…” Rage burned in Gunkan’s eyes as he held a darksaber to the man’s neck, “How did you manage to produce 10,000 gallons of BANG Gas??”

“Ooooh it’s all part of BUSINESS, Gunny! And a good magician never reveals secrets SHUROrororo!”

“TELL ME who you’ve been selling it to!!” Brett demanded.

“Mum’s the word, Gunny HOOHOO! I wouldn’t dare sell a customer’s private information! _There should be a penalty for blackmailing, don’t you think?_ ”

“QUIT kidding around, Clown! There’s one last thing: is there a metahuman ANTIDOTE?”

“ANTIDOTE?! ShuroROROROrororo!” Gunkan gritted his teeth as Clown laughed. “Actually…” Clown looked at him with a smirk, “a certain SPIRIT may be what you’re afterrrr… BUT: you didn’t hear it from MEEEE!”

“Uuuuh…” Gunkan sighed in exhaust. “Then it’s time we ridded YOUR mutated mug from the world as well. MEN: READY weapons.” The soldiers in the room took aim at Clown.

“So I’m GUESSING those swords are just for SHOW then.” Clown guessed.

“On my mark: 3… 2… 1…”

“SURPRIIIISE!!”

Vergo immediately punched Gunkan in the face, knocking him down before attacking more soldiers. The remaining soldiers gasped in shock, taking aim on Vergo and letting fire. “Armament.” Vergo spoke, and the bullets had no effect on his iron-like body. Vergo wiped all the soldiers out in seconds, and he and Clown were the only ones still conscious.

“ShuroROROrorororo!” The prisoner laughed as Vergo walked over with a key, using it to unshackle Clown’s wrists and legs. The white-skinned man stood up, rubbing his wrists. “Well, a little OFF, but… I still give you a 9.5 outta 10! Oh, I KNEW I could count on you, Vergo!”

“Of course… _Master Caesar_.”

**Now loading…  
Kids Next Door mission…**

**Operation:  
C.L.O.W.N.**

**Clown’s  
** Looney  
Operations  
Will  
‘Naugurate 

**Loading transmission…**

**And so begins the newest in the Big Mom Saga. Introducing Caesar Clown, aka _One Piece_ ’s version of Joker! Which is ironic because, Caesar’s master is Doflamingo, who’s NICKNAME is Joker! XD Ahhhh, isn’t Batman fun to rip off. And SPEAKIN’ of rippin’ off Batman, this is a Sandman story! XD Next time, more adventures with Nolan! Llllater!**


	2. Missing Children

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haruka shows Dillon and friends her healing skill. They are later approached by mysterious people...

**Well, guys, while I’m having writer’s block on _RECLAIM_ (no surprise), we’re gonna write _CLOWN_! Why, because… well, this story plot is generally better, as you’re soon gonna see. ;I Heeere we go!**

****

**_

Chapter 2: Missing Children

_**

****

**Uncharted Island; Pacific Ocean**

The playroom was packed with frolicking children of many shapes and sizes. No, I’m not referring to their ages. They ranged from the size of pennies to bigger than houses. As for their shapes, there were many races, like humans, Lilliputians, Kateenians, Minish, Gargoyles, Nimbi, even Merpeople. Some of the smaller characters were riding the bigger characters, cheering as the giants ran around. They were also playing hide-and-seek, with the smaller ones hiding, and some giants threw a little ball to each other from across the room.

The doors swung open, and they immediately ceased their activities. A man and a woman walked in, and the man cheered, “HELLO, kids!”

Their smiles were wide. “Master Caesar!!”

There was Caesar Clown, his yellow eyes shining with trust as he gave his wide grin. He looked much different than he did 2 decades ago: his black hair was much longer and wider, and he now wore a yellow jumpsuit with black, diagonal stripes. But it was barely seen, as he also wore a new, oversized, bright-pink open coat, with the word “GAS” written on both sides. However, it emitted a creepy, eerie sound and waved around like gas. That’s because it wasn’t a physical coat, but rather a gas-made coat Caesar conjured up himself.

The kids approached him excitedly as he pulled out a syringe. “Time for your daily blood tests!” He began to lightly extract blood from everyone.

The smaller children were gathered around Caesar’s henchwoman, Monet, a slim woman with grass-green hair, sharp yellow eyes, and bird wings and talons. She wore a green, bellybutton tank-top that read “Happy”. After she extracted blood from a doll-sized Minish (much bigger than their natural size), it lovingly rubbed against her wing. “You’re soft, Monet.” It blushed.

“Can we go for a ride on you?” a smaller Minish asked.

“Hm-hm-hm, maybe later, kids.” The woman smiled as several Minish and Kateenians already began climbing on her. “It’s almost your bedtime… Oh!-“ she perked when a Kateenian slipped down her shirt. “Hm hm hm!” she lightly picked it out, giggling.

“Will we ever get better, Master Caesar?” a human-sized Kateenian asked. “It’s been 5 years.”

“I’m certain it won’t take long.” Caesar still grinned. “But for being so patient, here’s more candy!” His smile widened as he held up a piece of butterscotch.

“CANDYYY!” The children excitedly ran up to grab a piece.

While they did so, no one noticed the blue-and-yellow, confused rabbit walk behind some giant blocks and observe the playroom. “Gyom-gyooom?”

As soon as everyone got butterscotch, Caesar and Monet returned to the hallway. “They’ve gotten so lovable.” The werebird woman said gleefully.

“Yes, but their blood results are all the same. It’s just not enough!” Caesar swung his fists in rage. “I need something that’ll really up my Underground Bang Gas Business! What WE need are BENDERS!”

“Hm hm, the two of us are benders.”

“We’ve already got our fill, Monet, as you can see. We need to collect more! If I could mix bender blood with my SAD, I could develop Bang Gas that actually GIVES people BENDING! _Then_ Caesar will be rolling in the dough, shurorororororo!” Caesar’s devious grin grew wider, “And I think I know just the person to talk to.”

**Quahog Bank; 10:30p.m.**

Nighttime at Quahog, Rhode Island. Things were peaceful in town, and the bank was totally empty. Of course, anyone that lived here would know that’s never true. A hole opened up on the floor as a squad of shadowed men climbed out. They approached the safe as one of the men bended some water out of a bottle, using it to slice the lock until it was open. Inside, piles of dollars and gold coins sparkled before their eyes, lighting the gangsters up. “They’s enuff dough in here ta last us next year!” The leader of the bunch, a chubby man, said. “Tha’s not nearly enough.” He smirked. “We’ll hit the old rich guy’s mansion, too.”

They flinched when they heard glass breaking in the bank’s lobby. They raised their guard, seeing three figures approach: a slim woman with a staff and purple robe, a blue-robed man in a metal Eskimo mask, and a familiar vigilante in a trench coat, gas mask, and wheelchair. “Lightning Bolt Zolt.” The Sandman spoke with a fierce tone.

“Well, if it ain’t Joe Swanson.” Zolt smiled wittingly. “You oughta be savin’ your cash for new legs, not fixin’ broken windows.”

“His name is Sandman, Zolt.” Wiccan corrected, twirling her staff. “And we only play using justice.”

“Please don’t ever say that again.” Coldman remarked, shaking his head.

“Well, we’re usually gone before they catch us, anyway.”

“Da three of you against all-a us?” Zolt asked. “We ain’t no Triple Threats, pallies: we Quintuple Threats. Get ‘em, boys.” And with that, the Quintuple Threat Triads began to attack the heroes.

An earthbender stomped and flung rocks at Wiccan, which she narrowly avoided as she dodged over and beat the Triad with her staff. Two waterbenders tried to freeze her, but Coldman surfed overhead on an ice path and sprayed them with his ice pack, freezing them solid. Two shadowbenders crept up to Sandman and pulled him in their Shadow Veil, but Wiccan called, “Lumos Harem!”, brightening the place with sunlight and forcing the shadows to come up, allowing Sandman to beat them.

Sandman was caught by surprise when three fearbenders stunned him with a Fear Scream, but Coldman froze the floor under their feet and made them slip and fall. Sandman backed away when three firebenders began to blast them, but Wiccan switched her staff to blow ice as she kept the flames back and froze them. “You know, that’s kinda pointless when I can just freeze things myself.” Coldman commented.

“And what are the odds of you getting chi-blocked?” Wiccan responded.

“Youse guys are gonna regrets doin’ that.” Zolt smirked. “’Cause Ah’m puttin’ you in for a shock.” The man twirled his hands as lightning sparked from his fingertips. Sandman faced him from several feet away, and the crippled man had to dodge his chair left and right as Zolt started to shoot quick lightning bolts.

“Siiigh, no good. Gotta make this quick.” Sandman said. He continued to dodge, his chair making little spins upon each landing, and during one of the lands, it faced up slightly, so Sandman hit the boosts and flung upward, landing forcefully atop the gang leader and knocking him on his back. Nolan kept the man down as he dealt a forceful punch to Zolt’s face, knocking him clean out.

Minutes later, the bank was surrounded by cops as Zolt and the Triads were given chi-blocking cuffs and loaded onto trucks. There was snow falling everywhere, as it was still winter.

The heroes, Nolan, Yuki, and Crystal watched from the rooftops. “I still don’t see why I fly _all_ the way down to Quahog from Iceland every night to help you with stuff.” Yuki complained.

“Because you _love_ us, Yuki.” Crystal winked.

“Yeah, well… I gotta be off now. Later.” With that, Yuki soared away on an ice road.

“Ahhh, always in a hurry.” Crystal sighed. “I would be, too, if _I_ had a family to go to. I don’t suppose you have any more plans tonight?”

“No-pe. Had to miss dinner again… so I should probably head back. Same time tomorrow, Crystal.” And with a wave, Nolan swung away on his grappling hook.

“Siigh, well I may as well watch how this plays out.” Crystal sighed as she sat down, watching the cops finish their business.

Officer Joe Swanson rolled over to observe the broken window, and he yelled, “Alright, WHOEVER broke this, I’m not paying for it!”

“Well, it is a bank!” Crystal grinned as she flew away.

**York Household**

The minute Nolan York rolled in, Danika was there to greet him. “Ahh, finally, you’re home! Kiiids, wake up, dinneeerr!”

Vanellope was asleep on the couch, but woke up at her adoptive-mother’s call. “Oooh, finally, steak and beans with ketchup!” she cheered as she glitched to the kitchen.

“Oo- Wait- I thought dinner was 2 hours ago?” Nolan questioned.

“That was before I decided to reschedule so YOU could join us!” Danika grinned.

“Good thing shadowbenders are nocturnal.” Dillon said as he came downstairs, rubbing his eyes.

The four took a seat at the table and began to cut their steaks. “So who got busted this time?” Danika asked.

“Ehh, it’s just those Triads again.” Nolan answered. “Bank sure has a lot happenin’, huh?”

“Gotta love how different benders are able to come together.” Dillon commented.

“Hey, Mr. York!” Vanellope perked up. “Can I put on your cyborg body?! Just for a bit!”

“You mean my wheelchair?”

“Oh, is THAT what that is?? I thought you were a cyborg and you take your body off!”

“Ha ha, nope! I was offered to be a cyborg, once.”

“Yeah, but you upgrade one limb, your whole body loses its humanity.” Danika mentioned. “That reminds me… you hear about all these kids goin’ missing lately?”

“Yeah… what about ‘em?” Nolan asked.

“Another bunch went missing from Water 7 several weeks ago. Eva did a news segment about it; apparently her daughter did surveillance there. It’s so weird, though. Whaddyou think’s happening to them?”

“Maybe they’re being abducted by aliens!” Vanel exclaimed.

“Or maybe by that old guy who lives down the block.” Nolan remarked, remembering John Herbert.

“Well, whoever’s doing it, I bet Dad can find them!” Dillon said happily.

“Heh heh, I dun’ think so. I’d rather mind business in my own city.”

“That’s not what Mr. Crystal does!” Vanellope winked.

“The only reason Yuki doesn’t move here is because his daughter’s in Sector IC. But it doesn’t matter… I’m not Superman, so I can’t be a hero in every little continent. I’m just a local hero, you know? We’ll just have to let somebody else deal with it.”

 _“Laaaazy heroooo.”_ Vanellope whisper-sang.

“Well, in other news, Leo and Katie are coming to visit for the weekend.” Danika explained. “Which is good because Dillon gets to bond with his cousin!” she grinned. “But… get used to the bad smells, you guys.”

“Ahhhhh.” Dillon slumped his head against the table. He hated random, unfortunate news. Especially when it involved relatives he couldn’t stand.

“Ahhh, don’t worry.” Danika smiled in assurance. “I’m sure you’ll have a great time!”

“Well, there’s always hope for a random adventure.” Dillon said, eating another piece of steak.

**Water 7; Sector W7 Treehouse, the next day**

Another peaceful day at the treehouse in Water 7. The girls were doing their usual routine while Chimney was on the couch, playing with her new Gonbe doll. They heard a light squeak and looked to the tiny door, installed in their normal door, as Aeincha walked in. “Brr-rr-rr!” the tiny girl shuddered. “Why did it decide to snow in Water 7?? It’s always so warm, but when it snows, it’s so cold!!”

“That’s because you’re so tiny!” Aisa grinned.

Apis walked over with a smile as she scooped her friend in both hands. “I’ll warm you up, Aeinchan!” she said as she pressed Aeincha to her chest.

“I know! You can hug Gonbe!” Chimney grinned, holding up her stuffed doll. “He’s sooper soft and cuddly!”

“Hm hm, thanks, Chimney!” Aeincha smiled. “But I’d like the real Gonbe better. Where is he, anyway?”

“Yeah.” Apis agreed. “We haven’t seen Gonbe in weeks. Is he okay?”

“Nnnn? Whatchu talkin’ about, he’s right here.” Chimney held up her doll. “He’s not as talkative.”

“Chimney… that’s the toy you got for Christmas.” Apis pointed.

“Hnn?” Chimney was confused, but she kept her wide grin. She held the doll in both hands as she stared very, very closely. The stuffed doll was totally immobile. It didn’t move an inch. His grinning expression didn’t change… but his eyes showed no life. …Chimney finally realized: (Play “Escape” (the second part) from _One Piece_.)

“AAAAAHH!!” Chimney began to freak out. “GONBE’S GOOOOONE!!!”

“YOU JUST NOW REALIZED THAT?!” the girls screamed.

Right away, Chimney frantically scampered about the treehouse, checking every nook and cranny. “Gonbe?!” under her pillow. “Gonbe?!” in the fridge. “Gonbe?!” on the roof. “Gonbe?!” the cereal box. “Gonbe?!” under a discarded bolt. “Gonbe?! Gonbe?! Gonbe?! Gonbe?! Gonbe?!”

She checked under every random object, no matter how tiny, and finally returned to her friends. “Aaaaah!! Where did I leave my little neko-chan?!” she started to pant heavily.

“Calm down, Chimney!” Aeincha yelled. “Maybe we’ll ask around town if someone’s seen him!”

“Or maybe someone caught him and slaughtered him into that doll.” April said with her usual toneless voice, barely looking away from her canvas.

“HUH-“ Just the thought of it made Chimney lose consciousness. The grinning child’s eyes rolled upward as she fell on her back. The others shot disbelieved looks at April.

“…What. Just a thought.” With that, April continued painting a picture of Chimney fainting. (End song.)

**Quahog Park**

“And then when Beat PUNCHED my face, the boogers got on his fist!” Kaleo Anderson exclaimed before bursting into laughter. “HA HA HA! He looked so gross! Right, Stewie??”

As they listened to this, needless to say, Dillon, Zach, and Maddy were disgusted. “Did we HAVE to bring that guy to hang out with us??” Maddy questioned.

“My mom wants us to bond.” Dillon explained. “I don’t see why. She hates her brother, too. …Except when he almost gets killed by a Vaporian. But we’re pretty much stuck with him this weekend.”

“Well-p: I guess we’re not hanging out with YOU this weekend.” Maddy decided.

“Ahh, why not, Mad?” Zach smiled. “He might be a poisonbender, but this guy’s actually kinda fun!”

“Oh, gee, I wonder why?”

“Hey! Hey guys!” Kaleo perked up. “I can poke my brain! Check it out!” He stuck his pinky finger up his nose, and his left eye puffed like goo.

“EWWWW!” Dillon and Maddy screamed.

“Haha, cooool!” Zach smiled with wonder.

“Hey, Dillon!” The four kids looked over as Haruka hurried to them.

“Hey, Haruka! What’s up?” Dillon greeted.

“My mom took Mason and Dad shopping. I didn’t wanna go, and Lee was busy, so, I’m stuck with you!” she said perkily. “So who’s your friend?”

“Ahem, Haruka, meet my cousin, Kaleo.” Dillon introduced as Kaleo tried to pull his tongue out and stare closely at it.

“Uuuuuhhh.” Haruka looked disbelieved. “He seems… nice. But hey, Dillon, I’ve been working on my Healing Sting!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been trying to build it up so I can fix any sort of injury!

“Cool! Maybe you can heal every metahuman that’s ever existed!” Maddy retorted.

Haruka glared. “Ha. Anyway, I’d like to show you, but, I don’t suppose any of you would be willing to sacrifice a good amount of skin?”

“Actually,” Kaleo began, pointing at his crotch, “I have some kinda condition where-“

“EWWW, NOOO!” all four kids shielded eyes and raised hands in defense.

“Now that I think of it, didn’t someone mention a seagull broke his wing down by the beach?” Zach asked.

“Well, it’s better than nothing.” Haruka smiled. “Let’s go!” she hurried off first, followed by the others.

**York Household; sunset**

The sun was setting over Quahog. Nolan York saw this from the window as he began to grab his gear. “Well-p, time to go patrol soon.” He said.

“Oooh, can I come with???” Vanellope asked excitedly.

“Heh, maybe when you’re older.” Nolan laughed. “Why don’t you go find your brother, he shouldn’t be out this late.”

“But it’s sunset! Don’t shadowbenders like the sunset??”

“Maybe, but, he’s still in training.”

“Alllll RIGHT, then!” With that, the Program girl jauntily glitched off.

**Quahog Shore**

“Uuuugh. We’ve been looking for-EV-ER!” Maddy complained as they walked along a rocky shore.

“Yeah, where’s this dead bird supposed to live?” Zach asked.

“It’s not _dead_.” Haruka corrected. “At least, I hope not.”

“If it is, can I eat it?” Leo asked.

Dillon stopped walking as he looked to the sunset over the horizon. His brown eyes fixed on the beautiful orange skies. “Hmmm… I think I can find it.” Dillon closed his eyes, and sensed the shadows around him. Not far away, he could sense a bird trapped helplessly under some rocks. “He’s just over there!” he yelled and pointed. The kids jumped up a small hill as Dillon moved away some rocks.

There lay an unconscious, battered seagull, covered with dirt. “Awwww. Poor thing.” Haruka said with sympathy.

“Hey, that looks like the bird I threw a rock at earlier!” Kaleo exclaimed. Immediately, he was met with hateful glares. “What?”

Haruka pressed fingers to its chest. “It’s still alive. Well… now or never.” And with that, the female poisonbender lightly stabbed her fingernails into its body.

The others watched with anxiety. Haruka’s eyes were closed, as the girl focused intently. She carefully channeled the poisons around the bird’s body. The seagull began to come to, as a result. It felt strength return to its wings. Its head was feeling less numb.

As Haruka released, the seagull was on its feet, giving happy chirps. _“Haaae! Hae! Hae!”_

“You did it!” Dillon cheered.

“Whoa! Not bad!” Even Maddy was impressed.

They watched with smiles as the seagull flew off over the horizon. “You did a great thing, Haruka…” Dillon spoke admiringly.

“Yeah…” Haruka couldn’t believe it herself.

Unbeknownst to them, they were watched from alleyways on the shore’s edge. _“Yep. They’re benders, all right. Good ones, too, I think. The Master should like ‘em.”_

“You know, we should find _other_ injured animals.” Haruka said as they headed back to the pier.

“Well, there’s plenty of rocks back there!” Kaleo grinned. “I can-“

“NO YOU CAN’T!” they yelled at him.

“Hey, kids.” They stopped and looked questioningly: a group of men dressed in yellow protective suits stood before them.

“Ummm…” Dillon stared confused.

“I’m sorry, but the five of you need to come with us.”

“Come with you? Why?” Dillon asked.

“It’s reached our attention you’ve caught a terrible disease. We’re here to take you to a special doctor.”

“You seem to be mistaken.” Maddy spoke. “THOSE three have the disease. Me and Zach _don’t_.” The benders glared at her.

“Heh heh heh. I wish that were true.”

“But we feel just fine.” Haruka told him. “If we were sick, I would’ve felt it. I-“

“This isn’t something one would normally feel. Even poisonbenders.” Haruka raised a brow. “Look, kids, I know it sounds hard, but, if you return home, your parents would be affected, too. Just get on the boat, and, I promise, everything will be better.”

The five, however, didn’t trust them for a second. Well, except Kaleo. …However, this suddenly fascinated them. They were curious where these men came from. They wondered, did other children fall for their game? And, why did they want them? …Dillon’s mind sparked with realization. He instantly knew, he HAD to go with them.

Moments later, they were on board the transport, and sailed off to the unknown. Vanellope had arrived at the pier as she searched the town confusedly. “DILLOOOON? HELLOOOO? WHERE ARE YOU, Silly Brains? Mario didn’t run OFF again, did heeee? HELLOOOOO?”


	3. The Search For Dillon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Sandman learn that Dillon and co. went missing. Their search takes them to Water 7.

**Okay, everybody! Time to start lookin’ for Dillon! Here we go!**

****

**_

Chapter 3: The Search For Dillon

_**

****

**Downtown Quahog**

Night had fallen over Quahog. Snow was falling fast from the cloudy sky. Nolan York and Crystal Wickens stood perched (sat in Nolan’s case) atop the town buildings. Yuki Crystal arrived shortly after, and all dressed in their superhero outfits. “Ahhh, another day, another bank-rob.” Wiccan joked.

“At least it’s snowy out.” Yuki noted. “Wouldn’t mind any cold.”

“Well, things seem pretty normal so far.” Nolan observed. “Maybe I can actually get home regular dinner ti- wait a second.” Something down the street caught Nolan’s eye. He pulled out binoculars and looked closer. “Vanellope??”

The Program child was currently walking down the street, yelling, “DILLOOON? DIIILLOOOON?” The girl turned in to an alleyway, examining the dark shadows. “You in there? Dillon? Don’t try and scare me now! You- WHOOOAAA!” She was immediately yanked up by a metallic hook.

Sandman hauled Vanellope onto the roof with them, and she screamed, “AAAAAHH ALIEN INVADERS PLEASE DON’T ABDUCT ME-“

Nolan slapped his gloved hand over her mouth. “Vanellope, it’s _us_.” He pulled his mask off, and Yuki and Crystal did the same.

“Mr. York?! YOU guys are the aliens?!”

“What the- Nooooo! Vanel, I asked you to get Dillon an HOUR ago, what’re you still doing out??”

“I can’t find Dillon anywhere! And Kaleo’s gone, too!”

“You can’t?”

“Maybe he’s at the Murphys’ house.” Crystal figured. “Wouldn’t hurt to swing by, right?”

“Alright, let’s drop by real quick, just in case.” Nolan decided. He held Vanellope as he swung away with his grapple hook.

**Nolan’s neighborhood**

The four hurriedly returned to the neighborhood, but right away, they found Doug and Gwen Murphy talking to Danika in her doorway. “Huh? What’re they doing?” Nolan questioned.

The group hurried over as Danika noticed and waved at them. “Hey, guys! Zach and Maddy aren’t at their house.” She called. “Are they with Dillon and Kaleo?”

“Vanellope said she couldn’t find them.” Yuki responded.

“I keep telling you guys, the ALIENS are abducting them!” Vanellope yelled.

“ALIENS?!” Leopold stuck his head out the door in a frantic fashion. “THE ALIENS ARE COMING!! AAAAH!-“

“SHUT UP, Leo!” Danika smacked him. “It’s not like aliens are _new_ to us. Siiigh… alright, where were they last hanging out?”

“Hey, guys?” Katie then walked out, holding a phone. “Not to interrupt, but Yin called and said Haruka came over here. She wants to know if she’s staying the night?”

“Uhhhh…” Danika was contemplating what answer to give Yin. She knew how Yin got. “Tell her ‘Yeah’, she’s staying over to, um, practice bending with Kaleo.”

“Okay, but um… she kinda heard you before.”

 _“WHERE’S MY BABY GIRL?!”_ the group winced at Yin’s shout. _“IS SHE OKAY?! If my daughter is in the hospital, I am docking SERIOUS pay out of you, Nolan York!! DOOOCKIIIIIII-“_

Katie pressed the ‘hang-up’. “We’ll call her back.”

“Siiigh, hokay, we better find those kids _fast_.” Danika suggested.

“You know, I think something like this happened before.” Gwen said, her head down in thought.

“Ohhhh that’s right!” Danika beamed with remembrance. “It was at least 15 years ago… Wally lost his brother.”

“Joey Beatles mysteriously went missing.” Nolan remembered as well. “The police gave up searching… they even got GUN to help, but they presumed him dead.”

“I don’t believe that.” Danika replied.

“Regardless, this is the same matter all over again.” Nolan deduced. “I didn’t want to make it my problem… but since they’ve come to our town, it’s personal. Danika, take Vanellope to bed. We’ll be right back.”

“Hey, why can’t **I** come??” Vanellope yelled as the three heroes headed for the garage.

“Sorry, Vanel, but this might not be your usual Kids Next Door business.”

“Uh, helLOOOO? There are KIDS going missing!”

“Just… stay safe. Okay?”

“Mmm-mmmmm.” Vanellope frowned grumpily as Dani led her inside.

“So, what’s your plan, anyway?” Crystal asked as they entered the garage.

“You’ll see.” Nolan assured.

**Sand Cave**

Nolan led them into a secret, underground cave beneath his house, where the lights flashed on and shone on a rotating, shiny, sand-colored vehicle. “Me and Wesley had this cave installed before he passed.” Nolan explained. “This was his old car. The-“

“PLEASE don’t say Sandmobile.” Yuki eye-rolled.

“N…No!” Nolan denied.

“Then what’s it called?” Crystal smirked.

“…It’s the… uhhhh-“ Her witty eyes bore into his skull, her arms folded, “FINE, it’s the Sandmobile! Sigh, just get in.”

 _DANANANA!_ A ‘Sandman’ icon popped up from a spiraling background.

_Dana-nana-nana-nana, dana-nana-nana-nana SANDMAAAN!_

As a simple car was driving down the neighborhood road, part of the road suddenly popped up and knocked it back, and the Sandmobile sped out and shot down the road. “SORRYYYYY!” Nolan called to the driver.

**Over the sea**

The Sandmobile was conveniently equipped with wings, and was currently flying over the sea at high speed. “You STILL haven’t told us where we’re GOING.” Crystal shouted.

“We’re going to Water 7.” Nolan responded. “Danika said that was where they last struck. Maybe we can find some clues.”

“Yet, we COULDN’T search around your own town first.” Yuki said, annoyed.

“The report says that more children were taken, and it’s a relatively small town, so it should be easier to search for clues.”

“Oooh, Water Seven!” Crystal perked up. “I’ve always wanted to see the giant fountain they have there! It’s so…”

“Fascinating?” Yuki cocked a brow.

“Exactly!”

“Well, we don’t have time to admire architecture.” Nolan reminded. “We need to find some lead on who took the children. Let’s go.”

**Unknown Laboratory**

When the kids finally stepped off the ship, they found their selves in a long, damp, vacant hallway. “Move along, now.” The suited men instructed. The five complied and walked the very long journey across the hall.

“Whaddyou think this is?” Haruka asked.

“This reminds me of _Brain Zombies 2_ ,” Zach began, “when the aliens took the kids to the laboratory to have their brains extracted for coal-mining knowledge, and they were given to the zombies to help mine Xenon for its sugarcane, and-“

“Have you been talking to Mr. Ed again?” Maddy asked.

“What? He’s cool!”

“Yeah, if you like green cheese.” Dillon snickered.

“I LIKE GREEN CHEESE!!” Kaleo screamed.

Dillon winced. “Um… that’s nice.”

The five were eventually led to a laboratory, where a green-haired woman, with bird wings and bird legs, turned and smiled at them, pulling off yellow goggles. “Awww, look, they’re here! Come on down, Master!”

They looked to a door on the left side, hearing footsteps as someone walked down the dark stairway. To their surprise, it was a black-haired man with white skin and goat horns, a huge, wavy pink coat over his form as he bore a wide, trusting grin. “Kiiiids! Helloooo!” He threw his arms out.

“Who’re you?” Maddy asked, creeped out.

“Why, this is Master Caesar!” the bird woman introduced. “You stand before the greatest scientific genius in the world.”

“I thought EGGMAN was the greatest scientific genius?” Dillon questioned.

“Nnn! THAT guy was an amateur!!” Caesar argued. “ _I_ am the greatest genius in the world! For YEARS I’ve studied the causes and functions of human and alien genetics! Using my supreme poisonbending, I’ve delved DEEP into the research of mortal sicknesses, and seen UP CLOSE how it WORKS!”

“You’re a… poisonbender?” Haruka asked.

“Nnnn that’s right!” Caesar demonstrated, forming a gas cloud in his hand. “I have spent YEARS developing the art in unforeseen ways! …And that is why… it is my displeasure to tell you…” Caesar walked forward and knelt down, his mouth forming a frown. “Children… you have caught a TERRIBLE disease. A disease that is slowly sweeping many children across the cosmos. I was able to develop my poisonbending enough to be able to SENSE which children had it. And so, I sent my men to go about and bring them to me. But to keep from alarming any of the nearby townspeople, I had you all taken away in private. Your parents shan’t be alarmed! No matter how long it takes, I will keep treating you until I can HEAL this disease!” He grinned with assurance.

“Now, if you all would be so kind, we need a blood sample from each of you!” Monet smiled trustingly, holding up a syringe. She went to Maddy first, bending over and taking her hand in her bird wing. “And what’s your name, sweetheart?”

“Hey, feathers off!” Maddy yelled, whipping her hand back. “If anything, I’ve caught the metacooties.”

“Hm hm hm!” Monet laughed warmingly. “You needn’t fear from that!” With that, she stuck the syringe in and extracted blood from Maddy’s hand.

Caesar knelt by Dillon with his own syringe. “And who are YOU, young man?” he grinned.

“Dillon York! This is my shadow, Mario!” Dillon’s shadow waved.

“Oooh, a shadowbender!” Caesar perked, extracting Dillon’s blood. “And what a FASCINATING name! You come from New York?”

“Heh heh, no!” Dillon smiled. “Quahog!”

“OOOOH, Quahoooog! Cleveland break any good bathtubs lately?” he winked.

“Ha ha!”

Monet then went to collected blood from Kaleo. “And who are YOU, little cutie?”

“Are you going to digest my brain for coal??” Kaleo exclaimed.

“Trust me, YOU wouldn’t WANNA eat his brain.” Maddy remarked.

Finally, Caesar went to get blood from Haruka. “And who are YOU… Dearie?” he grinned.

“My name’s Haruka Dimalanta! I’m a poisonbender, too!”

Caesar’s smile vanished, hearing that name. “Ehhh… Dimalanta?”

“Y-Yeah!... Is there a problem?”

“Just making sure I heard it right!” he grinned, patting her head.

“Great. So what’d you need the blood samples for?” Maddy asked.

“Each person receives the disease in different ways.” Caesar explained. “This usually results in a variety of genetic codes, which all need to be treated in a particular way! It usually requires more than one sample over time, but a cure should come underway before long! In the meantime… here’s some candy for being SOOO cooperative!” he grinned wider as he held up five pieces of butterscotch.

“Oooh, candy!” Haruka exclaimed as she took a piece. Kaleo swiped his and immediately began chewing on it, as did Zach. Maddy, having no trust for this man, merely stashed her candy up her sleeve for now. Haruka didn’t eat hers either, wanting to save it for Lee.

“Now, come along and we’ll show you to the playroom!” Caesar beamed. “Follow me, kids!” With that, the gassy man led them down the hall.

Soon, they arrived at the huge, colorful playroom, and were surprised at how many kids were there as well. The walls around the playroom were painted like a bright-blue sky with many white clouds. “HELLO, everyone! We got five more playmates just READY to have fun!” Caesar exclaimed.

“HI, NEW KIDS!” the children exclaimed.

“Well, isn’t _this_ the carnival of freaks…” Maddy remarked quietly, taken aback by the variety of kids. There were giant kids, Merpeople, Nimbi, Minish, Kateenians… And a majority of them were wearing white shirts, white shorts, and plain white shoes.

“Hey, wanna have a ROOTBEER contest??” a Kateenian asked.

“Okay!” Kaleo exclaimed, hurrying over.

“Hey, who wants to play Sooper Dodgeball?” a giant boy asked, holding up a giant red rubber ball.

“Oooh, this I gotta see!” Zach perked, hurrying over as the giants ran to the other end, creating quakes with each stomp.

“Well, may as well get settled in.” Dillon said to Maddy as they walked forward.

“Hey, look, a bunny!” one of the giant boys exclaimed as some kids gathered around a blue and yellow rabbit.

“Gyom, gyooom?...” the rabbit looked confused.

“Nnn? When did we get a bunny?” Caesar asked.

“I think he showed up when we brought the haul of Water 7 kids.” Monet answered. “I asked them, but they said it wasn’t theirs.”

“Hmmmm… how interesting.” Caesar rubbed his chin in thought, then sported his grin. “Send another shipment out to look for more kids! Perhaps I can find a-“ They turned around to leave, but stopped when Haruka appeared in their way, a bright smile on her face.

“Hey, Mr. Caesar! I don’t mean to trouble you, but, you see, I’m kind of in the medical field myself, and, well, I was wondering if I could help you with your research, and exchange ideas! I’d love to develop my poisonbending skills further, too!”

“Shurororo!” Caesar laughed jauntily, patting Haruka’s head. “I’d love to, my darling! But I’m afraid finding a cure is MUCH too complicated! I need to devote all the time that I can! You understand, right?”

“Um… I guess.” Haruka looked disappointed.

“Great! Well, I’ll see you later!” he waved as they walked out. “And don’t forget to Smile!” he grinned widely as they shut the door.

“Hm…” Haruka looked toward the playroom, smiling humorously. “Who is he, Sheila?...”

While Dillon was off playing with some of the gargoyles, Maddy was simply walking toward the left wall of the room. “Hey!” she looked up when a giant girl smiled down at her, standing behind a slide on Maddy’s right. The girl had messy, bushy black hair, and grayish-purple eyes. “My name’s Mocha! What’s your name?”

“Maddy… you want something?” she asked rudely.

“Me and the girls were gonna braid hair! Wanna join us?”

“No thanks…” Mocha frowned as Maddy went to sit with her back against the sky-blue wall. “I’d rather just wait until Caesar says I can leave. Since I try not to ASSOCIATE with those people, I shouldn’t be long.”

“…” Mocha looked confused. “Okay… but feel free to come if you change your mind.” With that, the giant walked away.

Maddy proceeded to lie down in attempt to fall asleep. From behind the slide, the blue rabbit stared at her confused. “Gyom-gyooom…”

 **Water 7** (Play “Refusal Will Not Be Tolerated” from _Batman: Arkham City_.)

The night sky was cloudy and snowy over Water 7 as Sandman, Coldman, and Wiccan finally arrived. They dropped from their Sandmobile and took land on one of the many rooftops. “Hmmm… town’s a _little_ bigger than I thought.” Nolan observed.

“ _My_ , but just look at that fountain.” Crystal said, her purple eyes fixated on the tremendous mountain that sat in the city’s center. “…And look!” she noticed the humongous treehouse towering over the fountain. “A Kids Next Door is here, too!”

“Alright, guys, split up and look for clues.” Nolan ordered. “And Yuki… try not to fall in any rivers.”

“Siiigh.” The icebender sighed.

With that, Crystal flew off using her staff and Yuki flew using an ice path. Nolan activated a glider in his wheelchair and began to fly across the rooftops (he would like anyone to keep any comments about ripping off Batman to themselves ;)).

As Nolan soared across this region of the city, he had to admit it had a nice atmosphere. The roaring waterfalls from the giant fountain echoed across the town, easing their minds. Nolan had activated special goggles built into his mask, and was using Detective Vision to skim the town. The people and Yagaras were represented as blue skeletons; it got rather confusing since there were so many. Other objects of significance were represented as orange.

Nolan’s search found nothing so far, until his Detective Vision detected rapid soundwaves coming from a few streets away, and a child’s skeleton was frantically moving about the street. Nolan turned up his eavesdropper to pick up this girl’s soundwaves. _“Gonbe?? Gonbe?? Gonbe?? Gonbe??”_

Nolan glided over and switched off his Vision, finding a yellow-haired, pigtailed girl rapidly searching under every little box or snow pile. “Gonbe?? Gonbe?? Gonbe?? Gonbe?? UU-“ Sandman suddenly dropped down and grabbed her in his arm, holding her mouth shut as he zipped back to the rooftop via grapple hook. “EEAAAAHHH!!” Chimney frantically tried to shake away. “HELP ME!! HELP ME!! I’ve been kidnapped! AAAAAHH!”

“CALM down!” Nolan demanded, forcefully setting her on her feet. “Now what were you doing out here??”

“OOUUUUH MR. SAND-SAAAN!” Chimney began crying, still grinning widely. “IT’S TERRIBLE! I LOST MY LITTLE NEKO-CHAAAN! GOONBEEEEEE!”

“QUIET!!” Nolan screamed, and Chimney snapped her mouth shut in a second. “Look… when was the last time you’ve SEEN your friend?”

“I just told him to watch the on’nanokos and he was GOOOOOOOONE.” She wept more, putting an arm over her eyes.

“Maybe he was upset?”

“UPSET?!” Chimney leapt onto Nolan’s lap and clutched his hood tight, glaring at his masked eyes with rage. “GONBE NEVER GETS UPSET WITH ME!! NEEEVEEEERRR!” she shook him forcefully.

“OKAY, OKAY!” Nolan pulled her off. “Ugh… alright, I’ll help you look for it. I mean, who knows, it might actually help… what kind of animal is it again?”

“He’s a neko-chan, duuuuh! A cat-san!”

“Oh, a cat! Okay… that shouldn’t be too hard. I’ll look for any clues I find, but why don’t you get home? It’s getting late.”

“Not until you find my neko first!”

“Siiiigh.” With that, Sandman switched on his Detective Mode and started gliding across the city some more. The majority of it was pretty boring. Nothing looked too out-of-the-ordinary. Until he arrived at a vacant canal road and noticed a single object glowing blue in an alley. Sandman glided down and discovered it was a dead, rotting fish. “Whoa. This must’ve been here for weeks.” The Sandman zoomed in and scanned the rotting animal. “Let’s rewind this back to when it was, well, better.”

Nolan continued to scan, and slowly, a holographic vision started to play, in reverse, in which a little rabbit was walking backward with the fish in his mouth. When the projection started playing normally, Nolan observed, “Hmmm… well, it wasn’t a cat… but a rabbit caught this fish from somewhere.” The holographic rabbit set the fish down and started to gnaw on it. “The fish has rabbit-like bite marks, so it would make sense. …But he stopped eating after a few seconds.” The rabbit perked up and walked to his left. “Something caught his attention.” He shut his Vision off. “I have to find out what.”

Sandman decided to scan around the area. It wasn’t long before he discovered a pair of fallen teeth in the clear spots on the ground. Nolan scanned the teeth, and another projection began to rewind. “There were a pair of kids playing a game,” holographic kids were excitedly kicking a ball around, and the ball suddenly came flying at the rabbit, “but they hit the rabbit by accident.” The holographic kids stood over the fallen rabbit for a while before deciding to carry it off. “They took the rabbit away… but I can’t pick up where they went after that.” He switched the projection off. “I wonder if those kids were the ones missing? Maybe I can find more.”

Nolan decided to scan the area further. Along the sidewalk, there were tiny spots of dried blood. “Ahhha. The rabbit bled a little after it was struck. I’ll follow the trail and see where they brought him.” And so, Sandman began to roll along the sidewalk, following the dried blood trail. His path led him into a market street, in which he had to jump a river to follow the trail across, then through another alleyway. His trail eventually led him into a darker, more broken area of the town. He was led all the way to the end of a long alley, where the door to a building sat beside a window with a light on inside.

Nolan gently knocked on the door. A chubby woman with orange hair and a yellow tank-top; with many pink flowers, answered the door with a creepy grin. “Well, hello, theeeere! Another child ready to join my family!”

“Wh-What?! No, I-“

“Come on in, Dearie!” the woman grabbed Nolan by the shoulder and forcefully dragged him in. “Here’s your brother!”

Nolan raised a brow behind his mask. “…Yuki?”

“Yeah…” the Eskimo-themed hero sat at a table. “Kinda got pulled in when I tried to interview her.”

“Boyyys, you’re just in time for dinner!” the woman grinned as she stirred something in her boiling pot.

“Ugh, we don’t have time for dinner!” Nolan refuted. “Look, do you have any other kids?? Do you have a rabbit, maybe?”

“Oooh, I had kids, but they went missing after I sent them to get groceries a few weeks ago. I sent the little rabbit to go find them, but he never came back, either.”

“Didn’t you try to LOOK for them??” Yuki questioned.

“Oh, noooo! But they ALWAYS come baaack! Oooh, I hope they didn’t drown…” she still kept her grin.

“…” Nolan looked disbelieved. “Well, do you have anything that belonged to your kids? I can probably find them.”

“Ohhh, this was Junior’s favorite bottle!” the woman grinned brightly, holding up a baby bottle. “I put soda in it once, and he just couldn’t let go!”

Nolan took the bottle and started to scan it for DNA. “Still fresh, thankfully. I should be able to find where this drool came from.”

Nolan’s communicator rang, and he answered as Wiccan spoke. _“Nolan? Yuki? You better hurry to the eastern docks. A bunch of men in… protection uniforms just arrived.”_

“Let’s go, Yuk.” Nolan said as he rolled himself out.

“I’ll just stick your dinner in the fridge, deeeeariiiies!” the woman sang.

“Don’t wait up for us, Lady!” Yuki called.

The two hurried and hopped across the many rooftops to Crystal’s location. They found their friend stood atop a roof, and joined her quietly. “Look.” she whispered, pointing over the edge. They peeked over and saw four men in yellow protection suits standing before a boat, guns ready.

“Alright, the Master says there might be more kids here.” One of them explained. “You two spread out and find them, we’ll stand guard.” With that, two of the men walked opposite directions down the street.

“I bet these guys have something to do with it.” Nolan knew. “Yuki, Crystal, take those guys out.” He pointed at the ones down the street.

Crystal hurried across the roofs to the farthest one and dropped lightly on her feet. She walked over quietly before jumping and kicking him to the ground, afterward bashing his protected head with her staff and knocking him out. Yuki quietly approached the closer one, merely touching his shoulder to freeze him completely solid. As for the ones by the boat, Nolan landed behind both of them. He weakly stood up from his wheelchair and held both fists by the sides of their heads. He SLAMMED his fists to both heads, smashing them into each other before they lost consciousness.

With that, Nolan sat back down as Coldman and Wiccan soon joined him. _“Heeeeeey!”_ they looked down the road, seeing Chimney dashing over to them. “Oi, haven’t you otona-sans found my neko-chan yeeeeet??”

“Look, I don’t know where your cat is, but we’ve picked up the trail on this rabbit. We think he’s with a bunch of other missing kids.” Nolan explained.

“And you really should put on some better protection, little girl.” Crystal told her, noticing Chimney’s exposed arms and legs, and wearing only sandals on her feet. “You’ll catch frostbite.”

“DON’T CRITICIZE MY FASHION-SENSE, JOSEI-SAAAAN! And where is my cat?!”

“FORGET about your cat!” Nolan demanded. “And just get home! If your cat is with the other kids, I promise I’ll bring him back, but everyone else comes first.”

“Huff.” Chimney proceeded to stomp off angrily. “I’ll show YOU what comes first, super-saaan!”

“What a nutcase.” Nolan remarked as the three boarded the boat.

“Soooo where are we going again?” Crystal asked.

“I used my Detective Vision to track the whereabouts of a rabbit.” Nolan explained.

“You just _looooove_ ripping off Batman, huh?” Crystal remarked.

“Uuugh. Anyway, then I found the whereabouts of a mom’s missing kids; or at least her baby. We’re going to follow their signal and find where they landed. But for the sake of stealth, we’re riding this boat there, so they don’t suspect. Alright, let’s go.”

And so, the ship began to sail away from the island, across the distant nighttime sea. “Why were those men wearing those things, anyway?” Crystal asked.

“Germ freaks?” Yuki inquired, raising a brow.

“It had to be from something.” Nolan figured. “I wonder where this signal is, anyway.” Nolan looked at his wristwatch terminal, bringing up a map of the region. The location the signal was coming from was marked, so Nolan closed in. “Oh? Hmm…”

“What is it?” Crystal asked.

“Hmmm… I’m not entirely sure on the story. But… we’re going to Punk Hazard.”

 

**Well… at least I got something ELSE done. Next time, we’ll be arriving at Caesar’s island, which is Punk Hazard. So see you then. Oh… and by the way… there’s a stowaway aboard their boat right now. ;)**


	4. Welcome to Punk Hazard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Sandman arrives at Punk Hazard to search for the missing kids. But it seems Sector W7 came, too. Meanwhile, Dillon's team is brought to a room full of multi-racial kids, both large and small!

**Lady and germs, welcome to Punk Hazard! Not the best place for a vacation, but, it has its moments. X) Here we go!**

****

**_

Chapter 4: Welcome to Punk Hazard

_**

****

**Oil tanker; close to Punk Hazard**

They’ve been sailing for an hour, but their destination was in sight. “Is…Is that right?” Crystal asked, seeing the island ahead.

“A…ccording to my tracker, yah.” Nolan replied, feeling just as confused.

Directly ahead was an island burning with enormous flames. The buildings around the shore were torn and melted, and the fires burned as if they’ve been lit for generations. They couldn’t even get close to the shore as massive flames blocked their path. “Well, well… didn’t expect our destination to be the Underworld.” Crystal remarked.

“There’s probably some explanation behind this.” Nolan figured.

“Well, whatever it is, it better help my case as an icebender.” Yuki noted.

“Come on, Yuki, you’re not gonna melt.” Nolan assured. “But try and freeze a path for us.”

Yuki sighed as he stepped toward the tanker’s ledge and aimed his hands at the sea. He launched a ray of ice and froze a path across the water, and through the flames.

“That probably won’t hold, let’s go!” Nolan rushed as they hopped off the boat and quickly crossed the ice. They managed to reach the shore just before the ice quickly melted. “Hoo…” Nolan sighed, already sweating from the heat under his coat. “Not the best time to be wearing this… Okay, you know the mission: locate the missing kids, and hopefully, Dillon and the others will be with them. Watch where you step, and be careful not to…” At that moment, Nolan suddenly felt something drop down the back of his coat. He reached underneath, and felt something tiny and squirming. He finally grabbed the squirming thing and held it in front of him, seeing it was a tiny, doll-sized, green-haired girl.

“Aaaaahhh!!” the girl screamed, desperately shaking as Nolan clutched her in his gloved hand. “Heeelp!! Heeeelp!! Let me go, let me go!!”

“QUIET!” Nolan demanded, shaking her slightly. “Who are you?!”

“Ahhhh monster!!” she screamed again. “Aaaaaaahh!!!”

“Oh, for goodness sake, Nolan, you’re frightening her.” Crystal scolded, taking the tiny girl in her smaller, skinnier hand. “There there, it’s all right.” Crystal smiled, lightly rubbing her hair. “We’re not going to hurt you.”

The girl stopped shaking and smiled happily. “You’re nice, Josei-san!”

“Hm hm hm!” Crystal chuckled.

“Uuuugh.” Nolan sighed. “Look, what were you doing in my coat?”

“I’m Aeincha, from Sector W7! My leader, Chimney thought you looked weird, so she wanted me to sneak off with you! But she didn’t say you had such a sweaty coat! She wants you to find her cat, Gonbe!!”

“Uuugh. Look, I’ll find the cat after I’ve found the other children. But it’s too dangerous for you to be here, we need to find you someplace safe.”

“Aw, Nolan, let’s just take her with us.” Crystal smiled, letting Aeincha sit in her open palm. “Statistics say that smaller people have more spirit than normal people, so we could use someone like her.”

“I’m also super-duper sneaky!” Aeincha grinned. “I can hide from big people like you!”

“Siiigh. Alright, but don’t make too much noise. We don’t know who could be lurking.” Nolan told her.

“Okay! Oh, I hope you don’t mind, but Chimney’s sort of tracking my coordinates via communicator.” She showed them her teeny-tiny wristwatch communicator.

At that instant, a huge, gray train came flying over the heavens, swirling out of control. _“GOOONBEEEEEEE!”_ The island shook when the train crashed in the distance.

“Aww GREAT! So much for stealth!” Nolan yelled. “Now everyone’ll know we’re here!”

“Actually, everyone will know THEY’RE here.” Crystal corrected. “Attention will be directed at them, but we’re free to explore the island.”

“You can ALWAYS count on Chimney to make an entrance!” Aeincha grinned.

“Siiigh. Look, let’s just find the kids before anyone notices.” Nolan said once more. “Let’s go.” (Play “Freezeflame Galaxy (Fire)” from _Super Mario Galaxy_.)

 

_Stage 3: Punk Hazard_

_Mission: Find Dillon and the kids and get them off this island._

_Act 1_

_Addendum: We’re at the action stage already??_

The three heroes started their venture across the flaming wasteland, with Aeincha seated on Crystal's shoulder. A few steel beams fell down from the sides, startling the group and making them stop in place. “Odd that they chose NOW of all times to collapse.” Crystal commented as Yuki blew ice and put the flames out. They crouched under the beams before jumping up some short platforms to atop a small, burned building (yes, Nolan's chair can still jump). They now overlooked a slight chasm of burning rubble, with the following path on the other side. Yuki tried to freeze an ice path, but the ice melted almost instantly.

“Boy, this place IS hot.” he observed.

Nolan noticed a slight, broken wall sticking up from their side, and was parallel to another on the other side. “I have somethin’.” He got between the two walls and sent a zipline to stick horizontally to both walls, forming a tightrope across the chasm. Nolan’s chair was able to zip over on its own, while Yuki and Crystal had to balance across. They hopped down some more stairs and approached a huge gate with a big lock. A big sign on the gate read ‘DANGER. KEEP OUT.’

“Well-p, guess we’re leaving.” Yuki stated as he turned and walked away, but Crystal grabbed his cape and pulled him back.

“I can open it!” Aeincha beamed as she hopped up into the lock, which was big enough for her to fit. After tinkering with the mechanism, the lock fell to the ground and the gate slid open. Crystal picked Aeincha up and carried her as they kept going. They trekked through another field of burning rubble as Red Chuchu emerged and wobbled over to jump at them. They took out the simple monsters before reaching another chasm, where lava burned below and blew up gushes. Yuki shot ice at the geysers’ tips to freeze rock platforms, which they used to hop across.

They reached a wider road with several lava cracks in the ground. Nolan rolled forward first when a flame geyser suddenly sprouted up, almost burning Nolan before Yuki froze it. They passed through carefully until they reached a ledge overlooking a huge lava chasm. Nolan glided to the first, lowest platform, then saw a set of three platforms hovering overhead, each higher than the next as they led to a higher platform. Nolan used his grappling hook to swing across the platform’s hooks. The platforms sunk as a result so the first one was at level with the previous platform.

Nolan pressed a switch on this new platform that caused lava geysers to sprout up between the others and the first platform. Yuki froze the geysers’ tops as they used them to hop across. With that, they used the sunken hook platforms to jump up to Nolan, quickly before the platforms fell completely. Next, they looked toward a further, lower platform with a tightrope connecting the two. Nolan had no need for it and simply glided down. Aeincha jumped off Crystal’s shoulder and easily walked across the thin rope, down to Nolan. Afterward, Crystal and Yuki balanced across one at a time, carefully.

Their next route was a thin, lava river, which they crossed by hopping onto a small stone platform, which began floating down. The lava bubbled ahead of them, and to their surprise, a huge Blargg emerged from the flames, ready to chomp with its wide-open mouth. Yuki fired an ice beam and froze it, then Nolan destroyed it with a missile. Another Blargg popped up from behind them, but the two did the same routine and destroyed it. This time, TWO Blarggs emerged from both sides. Yuki shot the one behind them, while Crystal aimed her staff and fired her own ice rays at the front. Both were frozen, and Nolan quickly destroyed them.

“Hm. And you said my Freeze function was useless.” Crystal smirked. The stone reached the end of the river, so the group hopped off. They then trekked up a thin flight of stairs and reached an old, abandoned metal building. The enormous steel doors were sealed tight, and a sign was stuck on them. _DANGER! Do not, for WHATEVER reason, OPEN THIS DOOR!!_

“Who else is tempted to open it?” Crystal asked.

“I think we’ve got enough problems.” Nolan said. “Let’s just keep going.”

The group followed a path along the left, along a fairly straightforward path. It went on a while, but nothing seemed to interfere with their journey. Crystal stopped after a while and noticed something in the sky. “That’s odd…”

The others stopped and turned at her. “What?” Nolan asked.

“Those clouds.” Crystal pointed to the clouds in the far distance. “They’re different from the clouds in this area. Like… blizzard clouds.”

“Since when are you a weatherwoman?” Yuki remarked.

“Woman of science, I know these things.”

The four passed around a few more burning buildings and reached the edge of a wide lake. Their eyes widened with wonder and amazement when they saw the other side. “Ummm… can your science explain that?” Yuki asked. (Play “Freezeflame Galaxy (Ice)” from _Mario Galaxy_.)

Across the lake lay a vast, mountainous realm of snow and ice. Crystal’s observations were true; the previous side of this island had clouds of black smoke, while a whole other region had dark-blue snow clouds. Regardless, this defied all possible reasoning. “An island of fire and… _ice_.”

“Still got your logic, Crystal?” Yuki asked.

“Reminds me of the Groudon Volcano that Nigel told me about.” Nolan remembered. “Its core had ice inside of it. Hmmm…” he wondered if there was some relation. “Well, at least the air will be cooler. Yuki, freeze us a path.” Yuki did so and made a frozen path along the lake, using it to cross to the frozen wilderness.

A few sharks tried to gnash at them, but Nolan blasted missiles to keep them away. “Careful, Nol!” Yuki yelled, trying to keep the ice path stable. The group managed to reach the frosty shore, and the cold air immediately fell to their skin.

“BRRRR-r-r-r-r-r-r!” Aeincha shuddered. “It’s so co-o-o-o-old!” The tiny girl immediately leapt to Nolan’s shoulder and crawled under his coat. “Mmmm. You’re so WARM, Mr. York.”

“Siiiigh.” The group kept going along the icy landscape as White Wolfos jumped out to snack. Crystal used her staff to keep the monsters back while Yuki launched ice rays. A bunch more were charging from across a hill, but Nolan fired a missile and blasted them away.

“Hey, what was that??” a voice called in the distance. The group flinched and quickly hid behind a mound of snow. They watched as a band of those same, yellow-suited men stepped up over the hill, guns ready.

“It’s those guys again.” Crystal whispered.

“We must be close to their base.” Nolan figured. He tried to launch a missile at the group, but- “Uh-oh. That was my last missile. I forgot to restock.”

“I thought you had, like, an infinite supply of them??” Yuki questioned.

“It’s only as infinite as I can make it.”

“Coincidentally, I think my Hover function ran out of juice as well.” Crystal noted.

“WELL-P, can never make games too easy!” Yuki exclaimed.

“Who’s there?!” The men heard Yuki’s shout and ran toward them.

“I’ll distract them!” Aeincha yelled, leaping out of Nolan’s coat and hurrying toward the men. It was a little hard to run in such deep snow, but the Lilliputian managed. “Heeeey big people-saaaans!” The men looked, seeing the tiny, cheerful girl. “Come catch me if you caaaan!”

“H-Hey! Why aren’t you with the other kids, grab ‘er!” But when they tried, and failed, to catch the quick girl, Team Hero ran out and began attacking the men. A few of them turned and tried to shoot them with guns, but Yuki dodged and threw ice blasts at them. “That guy’s an icebender! Get ‘em in handcuffs!” Yuki threw more ice, but the men swiftly dodged as one held up a pair of cuffs. Yuki raised in arm in defense, but the man successfully cuffed his right wrist.

“Aw, dang it!” Yuki moaned. He tried to throw more ice, but was unable to. “A chi-blocking cuff!”

Crystal knocked out another soldier and said, “Welcome to the party.”

Once they were all knocked out, Yuki checked their pockets for keys, but found none. “Well, this is PLEASANT.”

“Hey, at least you got your pack.” Nolan reminded. “Now come on, we’ll find keys in the base.”

They crossed the small hill and shortly reached the huge, steel building. They stopped by an air vent as Nolan used Detective Vision, seeing a bunch of the soldiers guarding the front door. “Hmmm… well, they aren’t armed.”

“We could draw less attention if we snuck in through here.” Crystal mentioned, nudging toward the vent. Yuki pulled it open and got in first, but Nolan remembered his wheelchair.

“Augh… I can’t really go without my wheelchair. Just go in without me, we can split up and find the kids.”

“You say so.” Crystal shrugged, crawling in after Yuki.

Aeincha peeped out of Nolan’s coat as he asked, “You wanna go with ‘em?”

“Nah. It wouldn’t be fun to be all alone!” she beamed.

“Siiigh… well, you’re right on that money.” With that, Aeincha returned beneath the coat as Nolan rolled toward the front. He approached the men calmly and yelled, “Yo, you looking for me?”

“Who’s that?!” they yelled as they ran to battle the cripple. One tried to punch, but Nolan grabbed his fist and threw him against another one. His chair’s punching glove punched another, and when one of them tried to punch from behind, Aeincha jumped out, grabbed his suit’s glass-window to block his vision, and allow Nolan to punch him before it was too late.

The squad of soldiers were knocked out shortly as Aeincha jumped back to Nolan’s shoulder. “Well, it’ll draw some attention to us, but they might not notice Crystal and Yuki yet.”

“I think they’re still focusing on Chimney and the others!” Aeincha grinned.

“Yeah, good point… we better get in.” With that, Nolan hurried into the front door. (End song.)

**Base’s playroom**

Things were still peaceful in the playroom, as the many kids were still engaging in carefree activities. Maddy, on the other hand, had fallen asleep along the side of the room, drowning out the noises, as well as the stomping of giant kids. A pair of giant feet stepped over as a giant hand shook Maddy. “Maddyyy? You awake?”

“Mmmm…” Maddy woke up groggily, seeing the giant hand touching her cheek. “AHHH!!” she shot to her feet frantically.

“Ha ha ha ha!” Mocha laughed. “Do you always wake up like that ?”

“Hoo… don’t _do_ that.” Maddy huffed, sitting back down. For a second, she was afraid she shrunk again.

“We’re all gonna play Airplane, do you wanna? My head’s really soft!” She patted her messy black hair.

“I don’t really feel comfortable playing with a bunch of disease-ridden kids…”

“Well, I don’t really think we’re THAT sick. I mean, I’ve been feeling pretty fine. Come on, it’ll be fun!”

“Look, I don’t hang out with mutants, okay? And you giant kids fall into that category.”

Mocha frowned. “Well… what’s wrong with me being giant?”

“What’s wrong is that I’m afraid of getting smooshed. And considering all the _tiny_ people, I’ll be surprised if that’s not a common thing.”

“Well… that’s sorta why we don’t wear shoes when we play. …What’s wrong, Maddy? Why don’t you play with anyone?”

“I don’t like _mutants_ , okay? I think they just like to abuse people. And to be fair, the only giants I know are from _Jack and the Beanstalk_ , and all that one cared about was eating Jack.”

“But the female giant wanted to protect Jack.”

“He put Jack in the _oven_. HOW was that safe??”

“Hm hm hm! Actually, we’re not really giants.”

“Huh?”

“We used to be normal-sized, but we think it’s part of the disease. Each of us slowly grows over the years, that’s why Master Caesar’s trying to fix us.”

“Sooo… we’re all going to become _giants_?” _Well, better than being small._ She thought.

“As far as I know. But we’re still the same as normal kids! And all the other kids like us, too! You’d have fun if you played with us!”

“I don’t know…”

“Sure you will! Like this!”

“HEY!” Maddy was suddenly grabbed in Mocha’s hands and-

“WHEEEE!” –was sent flying into the air.

“Whoooaa!” Maddy landed safely on Mocha’s hands, but the black-haired giant kept throwing her up and down.

“Ha ha ha ha! See, normal humans can’t do this!”

“This! Doesn’t! Prove! Your point!” she yelled with each land.

“Well, maybe this will!” Mocha smiled as she set Maddy on her soft, messy hair. “All aboard the Mocha Plane! Hang on tight!”

“Whooooooaa!” Maddy clutched tight to Mocha’s hair as the giant girl began running around with her arms stretched out like a plane. She was frightened at first… but as her form bounced and the wind brushed lightly through her hair (Mocha’s not as fast as a Nimbi, by the way)… she felt a small rush of excitement. Beside her, other kids were riding the heads of other giants, whom were each trying to outrace the other. Also, a few of the normal kids had oversized Minish and Kateenians on their heads, and those Minish and Kateenians had smaller, normal ones on their heads. Maddy had to admit, they looked cute.

Maddy looked and saw the competitive looks on the other kids’ faces, as well as on the faces of the giants. Riding Mocha’s head, she felt like she was riding a horse around a track, desperately trying to beat the other riders to the prize. Maddy smirked and “HEE-YA!” yanked Mocha’s hair, tempting the giant girl to go faster. Angered, the other kids yanked their giant’s hair to catch up with them. Dillon watched this race from atop one of the slides as he yelled like an announcer.

“Aaaaand Maddy and Mocha are in the lead, followed by Ayako and Tanuki, followed by Yoko and Doran, followed by Sho and Joe, and with only one lap to go, WHO will win, iiiiit’s…” Maddy and Mocha were neck-in-neck with Ayako and Tanuki, the two pairs smirking competitively. In the end, the victor was- “MMMMOCHAAAAAAA!”

“YEEEEEAAAAHH!” Mocha grabbed and threw Maddy in the air as they cheered.

**With Sector W7; somewhere else in the base**

“Owww…” Chimney moaned as the four girls recovered from the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N.’s wreckage. “What happened?...”

“Hey!” They flinched and looked ahead, seeing a bunch of men in yellow protection suits. They immediately charged.

“Yuh-oh. YAAAH!” Chimney cried as the girls ran forth and started to battle them. April zipped left-and-right to paint symbols and disable them, while Aisa swung her Conache Pumpkin and knocked them out. They kept running as the men recovered and gave chase.

“Where did we land, anyway??” Apis yelled.

“Somewhere where they’re apparently afraid of germs.” Aisa panted.

“Oi, where is Aeinchan at?!” Chimney yelled.

“I hope she isn’t dead.” April said simply.

“DON’T SAY THAT!!” they screamed.

They kept running down the dank, empty halls, but Chimney’s eyes widened when more men were charging from ahead. “Yuh-oh. This way, THIS WAY!” They dodged down a right hall.

This hall was much shorter and narrow as they were coming to a wooden double-door. “You think we can hide in there?” Apis asked.

“No choice!” Chimney decided. “Let’s go in!”

**Back in the playroom**

The kids resumed their previous games as Mocha lied back on the floor with Maddy rested on her belly. “I have to admit, Mocha, that _was_ kinda fun!” she smiled.

“See, I told you giants aren’t mean! Well, maybe adult giants, but we’re still kids!”

“Yeah… I guess you are.” Maddy sat up and looked around the room. It was so weird to see… a couple of human kids were playing a friendly game of Truth or Dare with tiny Kateenians and Minish. Some female Nimbis and Gargoyles were complimenting each others’ wings. Some Lilliputians were riding mermaids inside the large aquarium while Minish and Kateenians rode other Nimbis and Gargoyles like airplanes (speakin’ of which). Everyone in here was so different… but they played with each other as if they were the same. This playroom’s diversity could rival that of GKND’s.

Suddenly, the playroom’s doors came flying open when Sector W7 charged in. “AAAHN?!” they froze in shock, seeing the playroom full of diverse kids, large and small.

“Hey, look! Four more kids!” a giant girl exclaimed as all the kids looked toward the operatives. Sector W7’s mouths dropped wide open. They weren’t expecting to see kids of so many different cultures.

“Whoa… where the heck are we?” Apis asked.

“It looks like some kind of multicultural daycare.” Aisa deduced.

“Nnnn?” Chimney looked all around, intent on finding only one thing. “If all these people are here… then where is-?” However, her eyes widened, spotting the very person she was looking for.

Gonbe stepped through the crowd and immediately noticed her. His blond, pigtailed master.

Chimney grew a wide, joyous smile as her eyes watered. Gonbe’s smile grew as well. He couldn’t have been more happy.

“GONBEEEEE!” Chimney ran for her rabbit companion.

“GYOOOOOM!” Gonbe excitedly hopped toward his master.

The two embraced in the tightest hug they’ve ever given. “OHHH GONBE-CHAN I WAS SO WORRIED! I thought I’d never see you again!”

“Gyo-o-o-o-o-o-oooom!” Gonbe wept.

“I thought… sniff.” Chimney wept, too. “I thought you ran away ‘cause you were maaad! I’m sorry for making you mad, Gonbeeeee!”

“Gyoooooo.” He patted her back.

“He said, ‘I wasn’t mad, Chimney. I was just playing with some kids and I got sidetracked!’” Apis grinned.

“Now we can be one happy sector again!” Chimney exclaimed tearily. “Come on, Gonbe. Let’s go find Aeinchan and get off this rock.” They were about to walk away when-

“Waaait!” The five turned around at the call of a brown-haired girl – Abi – who stood by five other kids; one of them holding a baby. “Aren’t you guys from Water 7?”

“Yeeeeah? So?” Chimney asked.

“That’s where we’re from, too!” one of the boys; Ayako said.

“But how did you get here?” Yoko asked.

“We flew in on R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N.!” Chimney exclaimed. “And we’re gonna find our other friend and bring ‘em back!”

“Take us with you!” a giant girl yelled.

“Hnnn? Why?”

“We’ve been wanting to go home for years.” A giant boy said.

“They took us here because they said we had a disease, but we feel just fine.” A normal boy mentioned.

“I want my mom and DAAAAAAD!” a 4-year-old Lilliputian cried.

“Hold it, hold it!” Dillon spoke up, walking to the front of the group. “I thought you kids LIKED it here!”

“Well, we like playing with everyone…” the giant boy mentioned, “but we miss our homes. Master doesn’t let us go, but if these kids got here, maybe this is our chance!”

“Well, maybe he has a reason.” Haruka replied, slightly concerned. “Won’t you guys just keep growing if you leave?”

“Hold on!” Dillon spoke up. “We could bring these kids to the Undersea Lab and have the scientists shrink them with their, well, shrink ray. Then if they keep growing, we’ll try and work up a cure.”

“Well, you have a point… but I think Caesar-“

“Oi, we don’t have time for this!” Chimney exclaimed. “Everyone, come on, let’s get on the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. and GO!” Chimney ran out first, and the halls were soon quaking as the giants charged after them.

Mocha held Maddy in her hands as they exchanged confused glances. “Let’s go!” the giant decided, carrying Maddy as she ran after them.

From down the hall, the men were still searching for W7. “I think they went- WHOA!!” The halls suddenly quaked as a swarm of kids were running toward them, mostly giants. The men tried to run, but were immediately trampled by the swarm of multiracial kids, their bones crushed like sticks by the giants. When the dust had cleared, a few Kateenians and Minish were left behind, and they bounced across the squished bodies, making the men wince.

**With Crystal and Yuki**

The two heroes quietly crawled through the vent before dropping out into an empty, abandoned laboratory. “Phew. Crouching through vents always hurts my back.” The witch said.

“This is the first time we’ve _done_ it.” Yuki noted.

“And first time is enough.”

 _“Attention all staff!”_ a voice suddenly yelled throughout the intercom. _“The children from the Biscuit Room have all escaped with a group of intruders! Secure the whole building and FIND them!”_

 _“Yes, Master!”_ The two gasped and crouched when a squad of yellow-suited soldiers charged in the room and began searching. (Play “One by One” from _Batman: Arkham City_.)

“Crap!” Crystal yelled under her breath as she and Yuki crouched under a desk. The men split into different directions, but some were fairly close together, and they all had guns raised. Yuki and Crystal quietly crept up the stairs, splitting in separate ways on one of the floor layers. Crystal crawled to one of the men as he and a man on a higher layer searched around. When both walked separate directions, Crystal crept up to the man on her floor and started to choke his neck with her staff. She forced him to the floor and BASHED his head to knock him out.

She kept crawling, hoping no one just heard that. She sat before a corner and peeked out to see someone ahead. _“Someone’s not RESPONDING down there! You better go see!”_

“You heard Master Caesar!” Crystal looked frantic when the man ahead of her was about to run to her corner. Yuki peeked out from his side and saw this, quickly shooting an ice blast from his backpack and freezing that man. “What was that?” The men looked toward their frozen comrade, and briefly saw a figure sink beneath the wall on the second floor-layer. They all hurried over as Yuki tried to crawl away, but a man on the highest layer was coming from the opposite way.

Crystal quickly crawled out, approached the frozen man, and KICKED him out of the ice before knocking him out with her staff. “Oh?!” She quickly ran down the path as the others spotted her. They gave chase and tried to shoot the witch, but Crystal ducked beneath the wall to catch her breath. The men were about to surround her, but she noticed the grating on the floor, opened a hatch, and crouched inside before they could notice.

The men arrived at where she was, but found no trace of her. “Where did she go? !” Her heart still racing, Crystal crawled away as quietly as she could. While the guards were distracted, Yuki snuck up from behind the other corner, approached two of the guards from behind, grabbed their heads, and SLAMMED them into each other. “Hey!!” The others took notice and tried to shoot the icebender, but he flipped over the railing and into the lab area as he slid beneath the desk. The guards hurried down to catch him, but one of them ran over Crystal’s grate, so the witch jumped out and SMASHED him to the ground.

“Oh!!” The last two remaining spotted Crystal and tried to shoot her.

“Ah!” One of the bullets scraped Crystal’s side, making her wince and fall over. The men chased her, but Yuki ran out, grabbed the closest one’s neck, and choked him before punching and knocking him out.

The remaining soldier ran onto the highest layer in search of Crystal, but looked back and saw his partner was down. _“Ooooh so you’re the last one! This should be fun, shurororo!”_

“Nnnnn where are you?!” The man shook with utmost fear, the gun trembling in his quivering hands. Crystal smirked as she jumped out from her hiding spot, startling the man greatly. “NNNNN!!” he struggled to hold his gun as Crystal ran right for him. “Master!! SAVE MEEE!”

Crystal kicked the man’s stomach, knocked the gun away, bashed his head with her staff, and finally PUNCHED him upside the head, sending him over the railing and his protective helmet flying off. (End song.)

The two approached the fallen, unmasked man and studied him. “He’s a… _goat_ man?” Crystal questioned. Indeed, the fallen man had a human’s head, but with goat horns.

They proceeded to unmask all the others, seeing different horns on all of them. “They all have horns.”

“What kind of people are they?”

“Wonder if this lab has anything?” The two approached the center desk, finding a notebook. Crystal picked it up and studied the name on the cover, written in marker.

“Hmmm… let’s phone Nolan.”

**With Nolan and Aeincha**

Nolan quietly rolled down the hall, having his Detective Vision on as he skimmed the building for enemies, while Aeincha sat on his shoulder. His communicator rang, so he answered. _“Nolan, it’s Crystal. I’m not sure, but we think we found who this building belongs to.”_

“You mean the guy on the intercom?”

_“Yes. Some fellow called ‘Caesar Clown’. These soldiers were calling him ‘Caesar’ just then.”_

The name caught Nolan’s interest. “Caesar… Clown?”

_“Yes, and get this: we unmasked these soldiers, they all have horns on their head. I wonder if they’re mutants or something. …Nolan?”_

The Sandman was already lost in thought.

_One year after the Firstborn Adventure. The day was bright and sunny. Nolan York struggled to stand. He could barely keep his injured legs straight as he faced a simple tree. He raised his right leg and tried to throw a kick, but, “Ow!” the pain came back, and he fell back onto his chair._

_“Wellll, it’s a new record.” Wesley Dodds chuckled. “You’re still pretty lucky. Not many have their legs crushed and get them mobile again.”_

_“Yeah…” Nolan panted and smiled humorously, “Maybe I should’ve betrayed Revan AFTER he gave me those cyborg legs.”_

_“Heh heh heh! But you know how it goes… upgrade ONE limb, your whole BODY turns metal. It’s not the only time it’s happened.”_

_“Ha ha, yeah, with Cyborg.”_

_“Not quite. Have I ever told you about Caesar Clown?”_

_“Caesar who?”_

_“Now THAT guy was inhuman as humans got. He was a major producer of Bang Gas and metahuman material. He was able to do so using his amazing poisonbending. You see, before, he was a scientist for G.U.N., but when the military found out what he was doing, he was arrested. But about 3 years ago, he escaped. No one knows where he is…”_

_“Was he really that bad?”_

_“Oh, he WAS bad. When he produces his Bang Gas, he distributes it to all sorts of nasty criminals. Of course, he can’t do so legally, so he distributes in the Underground. Only big-time criminals like Brain are able to get connections with him.”_

_“You mean… The Brain purchased Bang Gas from him?”_

_“Of course. How do you think Madame Rouge got her power? Caesar channels the Bang Gas into little plants called Devil Fruits, and whoever ate those fruits would gain a certain power. Madame Rouge ate the Goop-Goop Fruit, a rare Logia type. Those are the hardest fruits for him to make. They turn your entire body structure into whatever kind of substance he makes it. And that’s why Logia humans are the hardest to beat.”_

_“You’re telling me.”_

_“But that isn’t the worst thing about Caesar. He tested his experiments on KIDS!”_

_“What?”_

_“He liked to grab whatever kids he could find and inject them with all sorts of toxins. He likes to give ‘em the same ones over and over and see how they ‘develop’. Most of those kids just… died.”_

_“Then shouldn’t we try to LOOK for this guy?”_

_“No… he hasn’t been heard from in years. Except the Underground, maybe. You shouldn’t worry about him. Besides… he’s bound to show himself sooner or later.”_

Nolan stared at nothing as he recalled this, and Aeincha looked at him confused. “So… _that’s_ who we’re dealing with.”

_“Nolan? What’s going on?”_

“Um, I’ll tell you later. But this mission just got an update. We’re going to capture Caesar and bring him to justice.”

_“Really? Well, I suppose he IS responsible for this.”_

“Yes. But right now, just focus on finding Dillon and the others. According to that announcement, they’re already causing a ruckus. Just try to find them and be careful.”

 _“Roger, roger.”_ Yuki nodded, and the transmission ended.

“Why did you space out, Mr. York?” Aeincha asked. “Do you know this guy?”

“Well… yeah… i-it’s like this:” and he began to explain.

**Caesar’s Lab**

The scientist watched humorously as Crystal and Yuki made fools of the patrolling guards in the lower lab. “Shurororororo! Well, well! Whoever these fools are, they’re quite a wily bunch!”

“They are!” Monet spoke up, reading her newspaper. “I thought those two were familiar. They’re Coldman and Wiccan, two infamous vigilantes from Quahog. There’s also a third one: Sandman. Hmm, but I wonder where he is?”

“He is in the building.” The two turned toward the door, and Caesar made a wide grin.

“VVVERRRRGOOOO!” The clown was joyous. The man in the big white coat and sunglasses stood coolly in the doorway.

“…I have determined Sandman’s identity. His father… was _in my battalion_.”

 

**Hoo, boy I have had writer’s block on this for a while, but I’m glad this first part’s done. So yeah, got to see some backstory, made a little reveal there, wink-wink. ;) I’m going to go back and fix that action stage up, it fell too short. Well, next time, the kids will try to escape on the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N.. Ummm, but a little problem’s going to get in their way. See you then.**


	5. Caesar’s Intention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the kids try to escape, the giant children suddenly have a craving for candy. Their uncontrollable rage causes the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. to crash.

**Now, everyone, let's board the Rocket-san and get off this island! …If only it were that easy. X3 Let's watch!**

**________________________________________**

****

**_

Chapter 5: Caesar’s Intention

_**

****

**Punk Hazard; down a building hall**

The swarm of kids kept rushing down the hall nonstop, trampling any more of Caesar's minions. "There's the train!" Chimney yelled, seeing the front portion of her train crashed through the wall.

"I hope it has enough room to support everyone." Aisa panted.

"Of course it does, just get everyone on!"

The giants struggled to squeeze in the doorway, but they still managed as everyone piled in. Sector W7 and Dillon's group were trying to keep back Caesar's minions while Apis got in to start the train. "Um, Chimney, we've got a little problem here."

"What is it, Apis-chan?!" the leader yelled.

"The train. The front part's fine, but... The rest of it's dangling over the edge!!" It was true. From outside the building, one could see the huge train dangling from up high over the snowy landscape, with only its front car stuck inside the building. "Everybody's falling toward the back!" Still true, all of the giants and other kids were falling and stacking from the bottom (back) of the train. "If we add more, the whole thing will collapse!"

"Nnnn! Then I'll start it up right now and fly around!" Chimney decided as she hurried onto the train to start it up. The engines roared as she backed the train up, and it fell from its perch.

"AAAAHH!" the pile of kids screamed and clung to each other for dear life.

"HOLD OOOON!" Chimney forcefully pulled a lever, and the train was suddenly flying around the air, becoming horizontal again.

"WHOOA!" The kids tumbled off of each other and rolled along the floor. Some of the smaller kids were crushed under the rears of bigger kids as a result.

Chimney flew the train around the building before coming down to hover beside the hole in the wall, a door open. "Okay! Everyone get on!"

"But we still didn't find Aeincha!" Aisa yelled.

"Isn't she with the kids?" Dillon asked.

"No, she wasn't a hostage! She came here with Mr. Sand-san!" Chimney replied.

"Mr. _Sand_ -san?" Haruka questioned.

That name sounded familiar to Dillon... his eyes widened. "Dad!"

"Oi, you comin' or what?" Chimney yelled as most of the last kids had squeezed onto the train.

"No. I'm going to stay." Dillon decided. "If my dad's here, we should help him."

"I'm staying, too." Haruka followed.

"Oh, gee." Zach sighed, wanting to get off this island already.

"Then I guess _we're_ staying, too." Maddy figured.

"Will you guys be okay?" Mocha asked worriedly as she set Maddy on the floor.

"Yeah, don't worry. We're pretty experienced."

"Well, okay. I'll see you later, Maddy!" Mocha smiled and waved as she hurried onto the train.

"OOLAAAAH! KEEP ARMS AND LEGS INSIDE THE FREEDOM TRAAAIN! HERE WE GOOOOO!" The four kids stood in the open hole as the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. soared away beyond the snowy skies.

"Heh… if there was a yelling contest, Chimney would sure win." Haruka laughed.

"Heh, Panini's got competition." Dillon snickered. "Oh no! !" he flinched suddenly and looked around. "Where's Kaleo?!"

"He probably got on with the other kids." Zach figured.

"Well, I guess that's good, but he could've helped. Oh well. Let's go look for my dad." With that, the group hurried down the hall.

**Caesar's Lab**

The three villains watched on their monitor as the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. was speeding away from the island. "They are getting away." Vergo said.

"Shurororo! They won't stay away for long!" Caesar laughed confidently. "Any second now…" his maniacal grin showed as he pulled out a tiny butterscotch from his coat, "they'll be DYING to come back…"

**Onboard the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N.**

"Oiii! Apis-chan! Why we no goin' FAST enough??" Chimney shouted, her furrowed eyes focused on the cloudy sky.

"We have too many on here." The Christian replied. "All these giant kids are weighing us down."

"Maybe we should organize a weight-loss program." April remarked.

"You know, I'm not even sure if the Undersea Lab will fit everyone." Aisa said.

"We're just going to drop everyone off at their homes for now." Chimney stated. "Their parents probably miss them. We'll just pick the giants up a few at a time and bring 'em to the lab."

"Well, either way, those kids must be pretty hungry." Apis figured. "I'm not sure what those guys have been feeding them, but, I better bring 'em somethin'." With that, Apis grabbed a little trolley of food as she pushed it down the train aisles.

"Hellooooo!" the Christian girl sang as she moved down the aisles. "Aaaaanything from the trolley! We've got cooked cinnamon rolls and donuts, not much to go along, but, plenty to last!"

A few of the giants grabbed the cooked goods and looked a little concerned. The food looked much too small to satisfy their stomachs, but that wasn't the problem: they were black with soot, like they were cooked in the center of a fireplace. "Ummm… is this edible?" a giant boy; Doran asked.

"Well, I'm not really the best cook, but, they should be safe." Apis said with a frown.

The kids started to eat the baked goods (the giants needed only one bite), and upon consumption, their faces winced. "Ulp! Ooooh…" a few of them held their stomachs.

"They're bad… right?" Apis asked sadly.

"Well…" Mocha began. "They-… OHHH!" Suddenly, she and all the other kids gripped their heads tight.

"Wh-What's wrong?!" Apis asked with concern. "They weren't THAT bad, were they?!"

"N-No!" Mocha yelled, feeling unbearable pain. "I-I…It's… Every day at around this time… Master gives us…"

"What?! Gives you what?"

At that instant, the children's trembling stopped. Their eyes lost all color and became purely white and lifeless. The only image in their heads was that of the butterscotch. _"Caaaandyyyy."_

"Um… huh?" Apis was horrified by their sudden aura.

 _"CAAAAANDYYYYY!"_ Their faces became greedy and monstrous. The carefree auras they once had were long gone.

Apis shuddered with total fear as all eyes were directed at her. The looks on these giant kids, they would tear Apis limb from limb to get what they want. "AAAAHH!" The girl scampered as fast as she could to the front of the train. "Chimneeeey!" She slammed the door behind her.

"WHAT?!" the leader shouted.

"The children are going crazy! They're saying they want candy!"

"Well, don't we have some in reserve?!"

"Gyom-gyoooom!"

"CAAAANDYYYY!" The sector gasped when the door was forced open, and there stood the swarms of multiracial, venomous children.

"Fine, have some!" Aisa yelled, whipping out a G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A. Dial and blasting endless gumballs at the kids.

"EEEAAAAAHHH!" The kids shielded from the gumball bullets and stomped forward.

"AAAAH!" Aisa dodged away before the giants could crush her.

"CAAANDYYYYY!" They all began to pile around the controls, pushing Chimney away as they took hold of the steering wheel.

"OOOLAAAAAH!" Chimney cried when the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. began spiraling out of control, flying back the way they came. "HEEEY! LET GOOO!" she screamed as she and her friends were flying around and around. Already, the flying train was on a direct course to Punk Hazard.

"We're about to craaaash!" Apis cried.

"Gyaaaah get to the escape pods!" Chimney ordered.

The four girls and rabbit clutched the walls and struggled to crawl to the pods. They were able to, and were sent flying out over the island's Burning Lands.

"GAAAAAAAHH!" The four pods crashed onto safe areas of the flaming grounds while Chimney's pierced straight through a big, steel door. "Uuuuuhh." She fell unconscious as a result.

The sign that read, 'DANGER! Do not, for WHATEVER reason, OPEN THIS DOOR!!', spiraled around on the ground before falling flat.

**Inside the building**

Nolan York kept rolling along with his tiny companion on his shoulder. The halls were quiet, and nothing was happening, when the entire building suddenly shook tremendously. "What in the world?!" Nolan exclaimed lightly.

"That sounds like it came from outside." Aeincha said.

 _Doo… do-do, doo._ The intercom speakers made a little jingle before Caesar's voice was heard. (It's the same jingle that's heard in _Batman: Arkham Asylum_ ; when Joker speaks.)

_"Attention all staff and employees! Well, what's the difference? Just a few moments ago, most of our children residents have boarded a flying train and escaped. However, it seems that due to bad piloting, the train made a direct turn-around back and has crashed into our Frozen Lands. All available troops are ordered to get outside and round up the subje—I-I mean, kids! After all, wouldn't want them to catch frostbite before I can 'test' them, shurororo!"_

"Ugh… that guy is all kinds of messed up." Nolan said.

"So, is all that true, Mr. York?" Aeincha asked. "Does he really test experiments on kids?"

"As far as I know. I'm worried about what he might be doing to Dillon and the others. Hmmmm…" He decided to phone in Crystal and Yuki, and asked, "Yo, Crystal, did you read anything in that notebook you found?"

"Yah, we did. All it is is basically a bunch of different date recordings for the blood samples of all the kids. Apparently, he's giving them a kind of medicine called 'NHC10'."

"NHC10? What is that?"

_"It doesn't say. But by the looks of things, he gives one to each kid every day, and then he takes blood samples from them after a week."_

"Hmmm… I'm gonna look it up." Nolan began to type on his tiny wristwatch computer ('cause he's gotta be high-tech like that X) ). He found a small article on the drug and skimmed it quickly, with Aeincha looking over it as well. Nolan gasped.

_"What?"_

"Sigh, it's not good, Crystal. Is Dillon mentioned in the book?"

There was a pause as Crystal was flipping through pages. _"Yes, he and his friends. Apparently, they were each given the drug a few hours ago."_

"Phew, then they shouldn't be too bad… for now. Keep trying to find them. The baby I was tracking previously suddenly changed location; he's outside, probably where the train crashed. I wonder if Dillon's group was with them. The two of you head outside and look for 'em. I'm gonna try and track down Caesar." With that, transmission ended.

**Dillon's group; down another hall**

A swarm of soldiers scurried down the hall, armed with guns as always. They failed to notice the shadow in the wall as Dillon, Haruka, Zach, and Maddy slipped out. "Hooo. It's hard to hold that many in a Shadow Veil." The shadowbender sighed.

"Ohhhh…" Zach fell to his knees, holding his head in pain.

"What's wrong, Bro?" Maddy asked.

"Ohh… I have a headache. And a… weird craving for candy."

"Well, we still have ours." Haruka mentioned, pulling out her butterscotch.

"I'm not letting him eat that." Maddy stated, still feeling distrustful toward Caesar. "Now come on, don't we need to get outside?"

"She's right, we have to see if Sector W7's okay." Dillon said rushedly. "Come on, let's follow them!" They hurried after the direction the soldiers went. (Play "Subway Thugs" from _Batman: Arkham City_.)

 

_Stage 3: Punk Hazard, Act 2_

The four made it to the second floor of a small room, atop a stairway. There was an emergency exit on the other side, but the room was filled with guards. "Alright, secure the room in case any more of the kids come through here." One ordered. "Master Caesar says one of the kids was a shadowbender, so use the Nightvision Specs."

"Yessir!"

The group crouched and watched through the railing as some of the men skimmed the ground using Dark Lights from their suit's eye-windows. Two of the men stood guard at the door, one facing down, one facing the top of the door. "I'm guessing we're not Shadow Veiling out of here." Haruka whispered.

"That's okay, I'll take care of 'em." Dillon whispered. "I'm not a spy for nothin'." With that, Dillon sank into a Shadow Veil and slithered downstairs. Dillon carefully squeezed under the small table to hide from a passing man using a Dark Light. When he passes by, Dillon slithers under quietly, pulls him underneath the Shadow Veil, and knocks him out before tossing him back up, unconscious.

With that, Dillon slithered back to his friends and re-emerges, watching the men to plan his next move. _"Someone's missing down there!"_

"You heard Master Caesar!" The kids crawled back when the men all hurried to their fallen comrade (except the two guarding the door). Dillon moved along the right wall using Shadow Veil and got behind two of them. Before they could sense him, Dillon popped up and swiftly kicked the two's heads to knock them down. "There he is!" The others were about to shoot, but Haruka blasted a cloud of purple gas from above, forcing Dillon to hold his breath. The gas didn't affect the men, but it blocked their vision.

They started to use Dark Lights again as Dillon crouched and moved around them. He got behind another soldier, pulled him in his shadow, and knocked him out before throwing him up. Dillon slithered up the ceiling as the men tried to track his movements. The three other kids began to feel frantic when two of the soldiers started to head up the stairs.

"Well-p… now or never now." Haruka figured. With that, the group dropped down the railing and fought the three that were below, doing their best to avoid their gunshots.

"WA-WA-WA!" Zach yelped and began to dance silly when one of the men shot at his feet. Maddy simply knocked him out quickly, but the two men upstairs were starting to shoot them from the railing. Dillon got behind the two as he and Mario shoved them over the railing, and they knocked out upon hitting the floor. The two men guarding the door decided to hurry over and managed to grab Haruka and Maddy.

"Alright, surrender now or these two get it!" one threatened.

"What kind of girls do you think we are?" Maddy remarked as she and Haruka flipped overhead and kicked the men's heads from behind. Once on the ground, the four operatives piled on top of them until they were down. (End song.)

The kids stopped to catch their breath as they brushed their hands off. _"Shurorororororo! Really, is that the BEST my security can PROVIDE? Hoo-o-o-o, I knew those protection suits were a waste of money."_

"Honestly, I wouldn't mind one of these suits." Maddy remarked.

"Well, your birthday's comin' up, I'll think about it." Dillon replied. "Now come on, let's help W7!"

The group stepped out the thick, steel security door, and appeared atop a tall outer stairway on the side of the building. From there, they could see smoke rising in the distance, from the wreckage of Chimney's train. Dillon, Haruka, and Maddy decided to hop over the railing and land perfectly in the soft snow. Zach, however, fell face-flat as Maddy pulled him to his feet. "Brr-r-r. I wish those guys told us to bring coats before we got here." Maddy shuddered.

"No big deal." Dillon said. "Sector W7 should've crashed a few miles that way. Let's go." (Play "Freezeflame Galaxy (Ice)" from _Mario Galaxy_.)

The kids began their trek across the shivering landscape as White Wolfos were already popping out. Haruka quickly surrounded the group in gas, making the wolves step back. Dillon slithered over with Shadow Veil and pulled one of the wolves down before coming up, and throwing it into another wolf. Haruka stepped out of the gas and used Poison Whip to whip another wolf, and when one came for Maddy, the Murphy girl flipped over to kick its head.

"Ow-ow-ow, hey-hey!" Zach yelped when a Wolfos was tugging on his pants. Haruka hurried over to shoot Sleeping Gas at it and knock it out. With that, the kids hurried forward and arrived at a chasm of icy stalagmites. There was a small ledge along the left side, but there wasn't much use for it as Dillon could just Shadow Glide over. He took his friends one at a time, starting with Haruka, then Maddy, then Zach. They walked down a snowy hill and approached a tall cliff that curved at the top. Again, Dillon carried his friends up using Shadow Veil until they were all at the top. Boy, having a shadowbender is convenient.

The snowy fields stretched for miles before them as they hurried forward. They expected more White Wolfos, but instead, Ice Chuchu were popping up from the snows. Zach ran to punch one of the ice blobs, but was immediately frozen, so Haruka had to knock them out using Poison Whips. Too many were appearing, so the kids decided to bypass them, even though giant ones were appearing in their way. Maddy pulled Zach's frozen body as they moved along, trying to punch his ice open.

They arrived at another frosty chasm with a set of icy, swervy grind-rails leading across. Dillon and Haruka hopped on to skid across, and Maddy set Zach's frozen body on a rail to let it grind on its own, while she followed it. They landed safely on a narrow path between close walls. There were openings in the walls where Armos Freezards were hiding, blasting ice breaths at the kids when they came by. The group stopped just before the breaths hit, and when they stopped, they decided to punch and break the Freezards.

They shortly arrived at a small chasm with a tightrope leading across. Again, Dillon simply flew his friends across, while Maddy spun Zach around and tossed his frozen form to the other side. They then trekked up a thin, straight slope, but it was too slippery for them to make it up. So once more, Dillon carried his friends up using Shadow Veil. They were back in the snowy landscapes as the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N.'s wreckage was in sight, set aflame. The four hurried over, worried for the children. (End song.)

"Oh no!" Haruka exclaimed as they arrived at the train. "I hope they aren't hurt!"

"Sector W7! Are you on there?" Dillon called.

A moaning sound was heard from the wreckage, and to their relief, the giants were the first to step off, followed by the other passengers. "Few… at least THEY'RE okay." Haruka sighed.

"Yeah, but where's W7?"

 _"Caaaandyyyy…"_ The children moaned.

"Huh?"

"CANDYYYYY!" The craving, lifeless eyes of the children returned.

"Whoa!! You mean THIS candy?" Haruka asked, holding up the wrapped butterscotch.

 _"CAAAAANNNDYYYYYYYY."_ Their zombified eyes were all fixed on the tasty treat.

"Aaaaah!" Maddy held Zach's body in front of her and yelled, "Save us, Zach!" She kicked the frozen boy forward as a giant boy; Doran, grabbed him and raised him in anger. He smashed Zach's form against the wrecked train as the ice shattered, and Doran threw Zach to the ground.

"Owww…" The Murphy felt a shadow over him, and looked up with horror. "AAAAAH!!" He dashed like a cheetah just before the giant stomped him.

"CANDYYYYYY!" The four operatives were hightailing down the fields when the kids began chasing.

"Should I give it to 'em?!" Haruka shouted.

"It would save us!!" Maddy yelled.

"What if Sector W7 got eaten!!" Zach cried.

"Do you think THIS is the disease Caesar talked about?!" Haruka asked.

"Who knows!" Dillon yelled. "Ask Caesar if we get back!"

The four slipped down the thin slope into the gorge area and hurried to the tightrope chasm. "Quick, fly us across!" Mad yelled at Dillon.

"No time for all of you!" Dillon yelled as the giants were still on them. "Just balance!"

The four balanced across the rope quickly, but carefully, feeling very nervous. "AAAAHH!" The ground shook when the giants leapt over the pit, and the four immediately dashed forward. They hurried around the close walls, afraid to look back knowing the vicious, craving kids were on their tail, their tremors growing heavier. They made it to the grind-rails and slid straight up, but the giants leapt to their ledge while the normal kids grinded the rails.

They started to cross the field of Ice Chuchu, but bypassed the simple monsters as the giants simply came and trampled them. The four looked up as a Nimbi girl shot down, but they dodged her and kept moving. Maddy looked right as a frantic mermaid girl crawled along the ground like a two-legged tiger, her teeth drooling. She kicked the mermaid forcefully in the nose and kept running.

The kids stopped just before running off the tall, steep cliff. "Uh-oh. What'll we do now??" Haruka yelled.

Dillon looked frantic, knowing he couldn't fly everyone down in time, but looked back at the stampeding, hungry giants. "Jump!!" They jumped off immediately and thudded in the soft snow. They climbed out, looking up frightfully as the kids did the same, recovering and running up the thick snowy hill. They reached the first chasm of spikes, and since Dillon couldn't fly them, they had to sidle along the ledge on the side.

"Whoa! !" Zach slipped and nearly fell, but Haruka grabbed and pulled him up. They kept running as fast as they could as they were almost at the building.

"We can't climb up that fire escape in time!" Haruka yelled.

"Then let's find another entrance!" Dillon yelled as they ran rightward.

They were coming to what seemed like an open hangar area, with a slope leading up to it. They ran up the slope and saw a steel door closed ahead, looking back as the monstrous kids charged after them. "Here it comes!" Zach yelled, shutting his eyes.

Haruka ran to the front and yelled, "Sleeping Gas!!", holding both hands out and blasting a huge cloud of purple gas.

The kids started to cough as the gas filled their lungs. It soon took effect, and shortly, the large and small kids fell to the ground, asleep. Haruka released a sigh, feeling extremely relieved. "Wish I woulda done that sooner."

"I don't understand." Maddy spoke up. "What's so special about butterscotch, anyway? I mean, if they're as dumb as Numbuh 4, but Halloween isn't for months."

"Hmmmm…" Just as curious, Haruka unwrapped her butterscotch. To their surprise, it was a blood-red color, and hardly looked like sweet candy.

" _Red_ butterscotch?" Maddy observed with disgust.

"Probably some kinda _healthy_ candy doctors give us… _uck_." Zach moaned.

Haruka held the tiny candy close as her midnight-blue eye squinted. She gasped and held it away. "This isn't butterscotch! It's… NHC10!"

"NHC10?" Maddy questioned.

"I read about it in a medical book once. NHC10 is a highly stimulate drug made of all kinds of dangerous chemicals. One of its core ingredients is _Bang Gas_."

"BANG GAS?!" they all screamed.

"You mean… Caesar tried to feed us MUTANT gas?!" Maddy yelled.

"Exactly." Haruka spoke seriously. "The drug has such drastic results on the human body, it was marked forbidden, and only the top-greatest scientists in only a few selected countries were allowed to use it. It was originally created as a last-ditch medicine to save people from fatal diseases. But its effects on the body structure were too dangerous to be taken more than once. If it's taken constantly, the consumers will desperately crave daily doses, and they won't be able to control their selves!"

"So wait, if it has Bang Gas, does that mean all these kids are mutants?" Maddy asked.

"Would explain why some're giants." Zach noted.

"Kind of." Haruka replied. "But only a _little_ bit of Bang Gas is induced, to help enhance the strength of the other materials. But it becomes so mixed up and tainted by other materials, there's not enough in it to make the users mutated. But having a daily dose of the drugs could really mess up the genes. I guess in this case, the drug has increased the size of the body cells, and that's why these kids are so big."

"So we really DON'T have a disease?" Maddy asked.

"I'm not really sure. But giving us daily doses of this candy is way too unsafe. You guys know what happens when you inhale too much Bang Gas?"

"What?" Dillon asked.

"Well, just one whiff of Bang Gas is enough to alter someone's genes and give them unnatural mutated powers." Everyone pictured Violet McCleary inside the Meta Machine, becoming swallowed in Bang Gas as her nails grew, and cat ears and a tail appeared on her body. "But if somebody sucks in way too much Bang Gas, their internal structure will spin entirely out of control. The gas becomes too much for them, and eventually… they pass out. …" Haruka looked at the candy drug with hate. "This disease BETTER be as bad as Caesar makes it out to be, because a drug this dangerous risks our lives either way."

"SHUUUUrorororororo!" The kids gasped and looked up when Caesar suddenly came floating down. "Whyyy, kiiiids, haven't you taken your candy yet? A disease won't cure itself!"

"Mister Caesar!" Haruka looked fierce. "How could you give kids NHC10?! You know it's dangerous!"

"Shurororo! Anything is worth risking for the sake of SCIENCE, my deeeear! Once you have a taste, you'll see how JUICY it is!" he exclaimed gleefully.

"You're sick! I'm starting to think the only one with a disease is YOU!"

"OF COURSE I'm sick! I'm sick with a lust for ever-expanding knowledge! For years, I've held a curiosity for human and body genes! Why do you think I have all these different RACES here?! Drugs can have all sorts of effects on different bodies! That's why I NEED them! But we ALL know _adults_ aren't dumb enough for this sort of thing, so I have to work with whiny little _brats_!

"Well, your science experiments end _here_. For endangering the rights and bodies of innocent children, the Kids Next Door are placing you under arrest."

"Technically, me and Zach are the ones who have authority to say that." Maddy reminded.

"Oh, just do it." Dillon huffed.

"Shurororo! YOU'RE all going to arrest ME?!" Caesar's cocky grin grew wider. "If you wanna play Cop, GO to the playroom with the OTHER kids."

"No big deal!" Dillon smirked. "For kids, nothin' fixes a problem better than beating the crud out of someone! Haaaaah!-" Dillon ran for the white-skinned clown, who only smirked witfully. The boy jumped and threw a kick at Caesar's face, but- "OOF!" he flew right through the face and hit the ground on the other side. Dillon looked up in surprise and tried to jump at Caesar's back, but he flew through his body as a result, coughing the gas up.

"Shurorororo! You'll have to do better than THAT! I'm a LOGIA-type poisonbender!"

Dillon got up and backed up to his friends. "A Logia-type?!"

"What's that?" Maddy asked.

"My dad told me about it. A Logia-type is an element bender who's so in tune with their element, they actually _become_ that element."

"Whoa… is your _mom_ a Logia?" Zach asked.

"Not really, but Ms. Granite is, and a few others. To become a Logia, it usually takes hours of meditation around your element, so that your own spiritual energies merge with those of your element's… or something. And on top of that, you also have to master a lot of abilities with your element."

"But if they transformed into their element, that's the same as mutating, isn't it?" Maddy asked.

"Well… sort of. It's supposed to be the 'natural' form of mutating. But the thing is, there are Logia metahumans, too, like Madame Rouge. She was made of goop."

"You know, Viridi was Logia, too, wasn't she?" Haruka remembered.

"Ha ha, exactly!" As they spoke, Caesar started to become angered. "In fact, I think some of the gods like Hexxus are Logia-types. But most of them actually-"

"OKAY, THAT'S ENOUGH!!" Caesar exclaimed. "Is this whole chapter nothing but explanations?! You know, some readers want more in a story than just DIALOGUE. All in all, though… he's right: I've been around dangerous chemicals and poisons for years, but NONE more than Bang Gas. I'm the only known poisonbender that uses his powers to develop unique ways to CONTROL Bang Gas. And _you_ guys are crucial subjects in my experiments…" his evil grin returned.

"Oh yeah??" Zach exclaimed confidently. "Well, I may not be good in science-"

"-or anything else-" Maddy said.

"-but if there's one thing I learned from failed pranks, it's that GAS IS FLAMMABLE!" And with that, Zach whipped out his S.P.I.C.E.R. and fired a ray of fire straight at the gas-made scientist. "(I wish I remembered I brought this earlier.)"

The flames brimmed in Caesar's yellow eyes as they drew closer, but he still smiled evilly. He waved his arms around, and once the flames came, he held an arm out, hand open, and the flames suddenly disappeared a few inches from his palm.

"Aaah!!" The kids' mouths fell open.

"Shurororororo!"

"But… that's impossible! Poisonbenders can't control fire!" Haruka exclaimed. "And they shouldn't be able to airbend either! They're only supposed to have power over the impure chemicals or materials."

"And fire doesn't fall in that category?" Maddy asked.

"Well…"

"Shuuuurororo! THAT'S the result of YEARS of training and spiritual bonding!" Caesar grinned. "Fire doesn't work, and your NORMAL attacks can't penetrate me! Now I BELIEVE it's high-time for you kids' check-up!"

_"Caaaaandyyyyyy…"_

"Hnn?" Caesar turned when the swarms of kids began to recover, their faces venomous as before. "Ooooh! Speak of the devils!"

"CAAAAANDYYYYY!" They cried desperately craving the sweet drug.

"Awwww don't worry, kids!" Caesar grinned lovingly. "I'll give you ALL the candy you can ask for! Mmmm-but…" he frowned sadly and pointed at the operatives, "those kids want it all for themseeelves… you'll have to TAKE it from them!" he grinned again.

"CAAAANDYYYYY!" Having no mental consciousness about them, the children charged for the operatives.

"Ahhh!" Haruka yelped, the group terrified by mainly the giants. Haruka hurriedly blasted a cloud of Sleeping Gas, forcing the swarm to stop and cough. "Oh no! They're not falling asleep this time!" Haruka observed.

A couple of Kateenians and Minish were still running for them. Even though she wasn't intimidated by the tiny creatures, Haruka released some gas and was able to put them to sleep. _"Aaaaahhh!"_ The giant kids recovered, however, and kept charging for the operatives in their mission.

Haruka looked down and saw the unconscious Kateenians and Minish, and filled with terror as the gigantic, stampeding feet of the mob drew closer. "GUYS, WATCH OUT!!"

Before their eyes, the tiny creatures were squished like tiny bugs. The four's eyes shrunk, and for a split second, the breath had faded from their bodies.

"CAAANDYYYYY!"

"AAAH!" They were too horrified to move before the giants swarmed them.

"Aaaah! Get off!! Get off!!" Haruka cried as some giants were forcefully tugging her pigtails.

"Aaahh! Mocha! Stooop!!"

Maddy's cries fell to deaf ears as her giant friend clutched her tight.

**With Nolan**

Things were quiet on the Sandman's end as he continued rolling down the hall. He finally reached a central room that was swarming with Caesar's soldiers. "Intruder!" they all yelled, running for him. These men were unarmed, so Sandman was able to punch and beat them all, while Aeincha helped by blocking their eye-holes and making them punch each other. Two men jumped at Nolan's sides, but he clutched their faces and threw them against two more. Another came, but he used his chair's punching glove to punch his crotch, then dealt the last punch himself. He stood up and dealt a forceful upper-cut against the last one, knocking his mask off.

"Oww." Nolan sat back down as Aeincha ran to him, climbed up his legs, then up to his shoulder. "Boy, if only my legs were normal, I'd be kicking a lot more butt."

"It's okay!" Aeincha beamed. "You kick more butt than me! I'm too tiny!"

"Ha ha!" Nolan chuckled lightly. This girl was kind of growing on him. His serious look returned as he looked to the last man he punched, who was still conscious. He rolled over, grabbed his neck, and held the deer-horn man up. "Now… if you don't wanna find out how a deer feels when his horns are ripped, you should point me to the nearest laboratory."

"I-It's up there!" he pointed up some left stairs. "Please don't hurt me!"

"I didn't say that." With that, Nolan punched his eye and knocked him out. He then used his grappling hook to latch the second-floor railing and pull them up, proceeding to enter the hall. As he moved along, they studied his wristwatch terminal, which showed a map of the building. "By the looks of things, this whole base is made of five connected buildings: A, B, C, D, and R Building." The map showed 5 circles, each representing a building. The biggest was Building B, the smallest was R, which was between D and C. "But it has all sorts of laboratories, and probably each are for different types of research."

"Why do you wanna find a lab?" Aeincha asked.

"Well, it's not the lab in particular, but I'm hoping to grab a sample of that NHC10. Then maybe I could use the materials in the lab to whip up a counter-poison."

They arrived at a door labeled 'COMPUTER LAB' in all caps and decided to enter. "Hmmm… maybe I shoulda been more specific. Well, let's see what we can find." Sandman said as he approached a computer that was already on. "Hey… it's an article on this island's history." The two began to skim it as Nolan read aloud. "This laboratory was established by G.U.N.'s greatest scientist, Professor Gerald Robotnik, in year 2003, shortly after GUN's establishment. His reasons for choosing this location were because of its historical value: he determined that, millions of years ago, it was the battle site for the Gods of Sun and Snow, Solaris and Polaris, to determine the ultimate climate for the planet. Oh!..."

"Oooooh!" Aeincha's eyes lit with amazement.

"Here in this laboratory, research was conducted by top scientists, to study the works of metahuman and alien genetics among other things. The lab was shut down shortly after a terrible explosion of Bang Gas engulfed the whole island. Professor Gerald Robotnik, having been deemed the one responsible, was arrested. However, he escaped before he was given a sentence, using his own Dimensional Traveler to flee to his own dimension. His assistant, Caesar Clown, was mutated in the explosion, but was allowed to stay in GUN for the reason that the fault wasn't his. …Hmmm."

"So?" Aeincha spoke.

"This is an article from GUN's official records. If Caesar worked for GUN… but why-"

"It was not all Robotnik's doing."

Nolan flinched and turned around, while Aeincha hid up his hat. "However, I manage to cover Caesar's tracks."

"Who?..."

"It's been 23 years at least, Sandman." A silhouetted figure stuck out from behind the doorway. "You've grown fast… _Nolan-san_." he stepped all the way in the room, and the light shone on Vergo's form.

"Y…You…" Nolan was speechless. "General… _Vergo?_..."

_Nolan was 8 years old. He sat quietly on his bed in his room, gazing out the window eagerly. A car pulled up his driveway, and out stepped General Vergo: the man in the white coat he knew as his father's commander. He rang the doorbell as Nolan's mother answered. He told her something that made Kyla York horrified. The general offered his condolences, and left._

_Kyla shut the door as Nolan walked downstairs, looking at her with concern. "Mom?..."_

_"Son… your father isn't coming back."_

Nolan still couldn't believe his eyes. General Vergo… after all these years. "Wh…What're you doing here?"

"The answer is simple… I've been working for Caesar… for years."

**With Sector W7**

"Ohhhh…" The three other girls; besides their leader, finally recovered, carefully navigating the fires to reach the thin stairway.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" Aisa hopped around, the ground very hot on her bare feet.

"You really oughta consider wearing shoes." Apis suggested.

"I'm not a shoe person…" she said simply.

"Where's Chimney?" April asked, looking to the huge steel door. The girls stepped up the stairs and found a hole penetrated in the door. They peeked in curiously, seeing Chimney and Gonbe slumped out of their escape pod.

"Oooaaaahh…" Chimney moaned, still grinning. "I knew I shouldn't-a drank so much soda 'fore driving."

"Gyom-gyooooooo…"

"You okay, Chimney?" Apis asked as they stepped in and approached.

"Yah… I think so." She spoke, standing up. She looked around and asked, "Oi, where are we?"

"Somewhere cool, I know that." Aisa said, rubbing her scorched feet.

The girls decided to step forward, the huge, garage-like chamber becoming pitch-black as it drew on. "Oi, ain't there a light switch in here?" Chimney asked.

Apis looked to a red button on the wall, which was connected to the huge steel door. "Let's try this." She went to press the switch, and the huge door came slightly open. It didn't open all the way because of the lock still attached to it.

_"Oooooo…"_

Gonbe's ears perked. "Gyo!!" He looked frightened.

"Oh?" All the girls faced ahead, wondering where the eerie moan came from.

The way ahead was still pitch-black… but in the darkness, a pair of big, glowing yellow eyes met their gaze. _"Wwwwwaaaaaaaabbbbb."_

________________________________________

**Aaaaand we're done. Surprised I managed to finish this tonight. So yeah, revealed and explained a lot of stuff, next time Vergo will have a little story. And guess what that giant monster is. _One Piece_ fans will know it. ;) He was pretty major. Later.**


	6. Punk Hazard Explodes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A giant toxic blob chases Sector W7 through Punk Hazard. The heroes watch in horror as the blob explodes, covering the entire island in Bang Gas-Z.

**Welcome back, Punk Hazard fans, to this exciting rip-off! XD Heeere we go!**

****

**_

Chapter 6: Punk Hazard Explodes

_**

****

**Punk Hazard; Burning Lands**

_“Wwwwaaaaab, wwaaaaab, wwaaaaab...”_ Whatever the sound belonged to, the glowing yellow eyes, and their source, were wobbling in a gooey fashion. Sector W7 only stared as the eyes drew closer. Once the creature was close enough into the light, Chimney's eyes widened. (Play “Mysterious Life Form” from _Pikmin 3_.)

“AAAAAAAHHH!” She and Gonbe were the first to bolt out of there. “GYAAAH RUN AWAY, GIRL-CHAAANS!”

“Gyoooooom!”

The girls looked ahead and saw the creature was a giant, purplish-red blob made of some kind of toxic waste, its mouth wide open. “AAAAHH!” The girls hightailed away, sliding under the steel door's opening and hurrying down the long, flaming road to the side. They turned and looked back, watching as the toxic creature slithered out of the door, slowly squeezing its whole body through as it chased.

“GYAAAAH HERE IT COOOOMES!” Chimney screamed once more.

 

_Stage 3: Punk Hazard, Act 3_

The girls hurried across the straightforward road as the Big Boss Toxichu; which they've named it, wobbled their way. Some burning buildings toppled over and blocked their path, forcing them to run around. The Toxichu also spat Mini Toxichu in their way, but the operatives shot the small Chuchus with weapons before hurrying ahead. However, Aisa stepped in one of their toxic puddles and- “Aaaahh!” held her foot as it burned immensely from the acid. Apis had to run back and put Aisa's arm around her head as she helped her move along.

They were about to make it to the lake, but that was before two flaming buildings toppled over and blocked their path. “Gyaaaaah! This way!” Chimney ordered, hurrying down a rightward path as the girls followed. They had to jump up some stairs while the Toxichu spat mini blobs in their way again. The girls tried to bypass the blobs as they kept running, making it to a fiery chasm with a wobbly, rectangular platform on a post. The girls all jumped to the platform, causing their end to tilt downward. They all struggled to step up to the other side, but this caused it to tilt down the other way, and they were too far from the ledge. Apis and Aisa (who still had to hold onto the former) decided to walk back to the other side, making the floor horizontal so Chimney, Gonbe, and April could make it. Apis and Aisa were still on the other end, which faced down, but Aisa pulled out her Conache Pumpkin, tossed it to the other side, and forced it down, sending the two flying up like a catapult.

The girls kept running and reached another fiery chasm, where they had to jump a series of small, wobbly platforms. They hurriedly jumped across, while Blarggs were also popping up to chomp down on them, but the girls avoided them just before the platforms could sink. They reached a slightly wider platform as their way ahead was blocked by Mini Toxichu which were spat from the Big Boss. Aisa used her Weapon Dial to blast gumball bullets at the Toxichu to disable them, and the girls carefully jumped their remains to reach the next platform.

They hurried down another fiery road as the way ahead was scattered within a flaming maze. They ran all around the maze and ended up lost in their (or rather Chimney’s) panic. Whenever they encountered a dead end, the Toxichu would spit Mini Toxichu in the way they came. Their panic only increased as the giant blob entered the maze and was closing in on them. They frantically tried to find paths that would lead away from it, but in doing so, they managed to find the way out of the maze. They dashed down a long, narrow path that made a snaky turn left, leading the girls to the lake.

“Oi, let’s hurry up and swiiim!” Chimney shouted.

“But we CAN’T swim, Chimney!” Apis yelled.

“Aaaahhh!” The leader looked around frantically, wondering what to do. They looked in the water when some kind of gray fin was speeding toward them. Before their eyes, a vicious shark leapt out of the water, but the girls jumped back. “Fishman Karate!” Chimney exclaimed, performing a series of arm movements as a gush of water flew out and rammed the shark’s side.

“Alright, Chimneeeey!” Apis cheered.

The shark recovered, but the ecstatic Sector Leader hopped onto its back and tried to tame it as it shook around. Finally, she managed to get the shark under control and yelled, “Grab on!”

The girls nodded and quickly hopped onto the shark, riding it across the water before the Toxichu could reach them. “Aaaah!” Aisa cried, suddenly slipping off and falling in the water.

“Aisa-chaaan!” Chimney immediately dove in to grab her friend, while the shark carried the others to the snowy shore. Aisa wrapped her arms around Chimney as the part-mermaid struggled to swim back. More sharks were swimming to snack on them, but Chimney spun and sent more water gushes to keep them back. She kept swimming, but Aisa saw more sharks coming from behind, so she blasted gumballs from her Weapon Dial, giving Chimney enough time to reach the shore.

Still injured, Aisa held onto Chimney as the group hurried to the Frozen Lands. When they ran up a hill, they were instantly encountered by Caesar’s minions. “Hey, what’re you doing here? !” they yelled. April quickly zipped around to paint symbols on them, but their protection suits seemed to make them immune. However, they were distracted enough so Chimney could jump around and beat them all, while Apis held Aisa up so the Nimbi could shoot gumballs. “Not so fast.” The last henchman spoke as he pulled out a gun, but before he could take a shot, Crystal Wickens bashed his head with her staff from behind. (End song.)

“Phew.” The witch sighed as Yuki ran to her side. “Are you guys all right?”

“Oi, yes, but we got no time for that!” Chimney shouted. “We bein’ chased by a monster!”

“Gyom-gyoooom!”

“A monster? What?...” She and Yuki looked across the lake and saw a long path of toxic sludge retreat back into the Burning Lands. They viewed across the distance, and to their astonishment, a mountain of the toxic goo towered as high as a mountain, its glowing yellow eyes peering at them.

The gigantic sludge opened its mouth wide, beginning to spit smaller Toxichus all the way across. The blobs landed beside them and wobbled toward them, but Crystal twirled her staff and launched flames. “AAAH!!” The blobs exploded upon impact of the fire, blowing them all back.

“Ugh, that’s probably not a good idea.” Yuki grunted as they recovered.

“You’re right.” Crystal agreed. “Let’s find a way inside, quickly.” And the two hurried the children along as they ran to the nearest entrance.

**A few miles away…**

Secretly, from beyond the mountains, two shadowed eyes watched the events unfurl. They were two, extremely tall yetis, with long guns on their backs. The yetis hopped out and began to sing.

_Rock: It’s time to get you Yeti Cool oooo’n_

_Yes, it’s Yeti Cool tiiiime, time to schooooo’!_

_Scotch: My man Rock here, and my name is Scotch_

_Yes we’re Rock and we’re Scotch, so sit and waaaatch!_

_And noooowwww weeeee goooooon’ HUNT some doooooown!_

_Rock: Nooooow weeeee goooon’ HUNT them kids doooooown!_

_“WHAT THE HELL are YOU doing here?!”_ Caesar’s voice suddenly yelled from the speakers. _“I fired you two after the ORIGINAL Punk Hazard Arc! GET THE HELL OUT!”_

“Awwwwww.” Heartbroken, the Yeti Cool Brothers glumly walked away.

_“Nnnnn that’s right. You two bore no significance to the plot whatsoever.”_

**Inside the base; Computer Lab**

“The truth is, I was commissioned by one of Caesar’s customers to protect his business.” Vergo began to explain. “I signed up with GUN for the sake of doing so. Thanks to my protection, Caesar was able to perform his research in private, even from Gerald Robotnik’s view. I framed Robotnik for the Bang Gas incident to have him disposed of. It was shortly after that Caesar began doing business with Darth Genious. They combined their scientific intellect to make a special toxin he called Bang Gas-Z, a Bang Gas that enhances the effects of regular Bang Gas 10-fold. About 23 years ago, Brain and Caesar used this gas to create an army of super metahumans, and started a war against the G.U.N. itself.”

“But… where does my dad come into play?” Nolan asked.

“Your father was a soldier at GUN, too. He didn’t care for their intentions of ending the metahuman population, but like Gunkan and Lyle, his goal was to bring Revan Sidious to justice. He fought in the war and proved his power admirably. But only so with my guidance. Darian encountered Brain in his fortress, and clashed against him. He brought his anti-psychic helmet to protect himself against Genious’s powers. But what he didn’t know, was I programmed the helmet to give him an unbearable shock, upon the push of a remote button. He was forced to remove the helmet, but that enabled Genious to dispose of him, through a simple Psychic Choke.”

Nolan gasped under his breath.

“Unfortunately, Lyle T. Rourke managed to discover Caesar. The former never _did_ have any trust for the scientist. It wasn’t long before soldiers surrounded him and had him in chi-blocking cuffs. Gunkan questioned where Caesar managed to acquire 10,000 gallons of Bang Gas, and when he wouldn’t answer, he was sentenced to death. But before they had a chance, I defeated the soldiers and rescued him. In truth, they never discovered his poisonbending until after the battle, but they didn’t know how profound he was.”

“Hmmm… but what happened to the super-metahumans? Were they arrested?”

“Actually… the Bang Gas-Z was still experimental, and highly corrosive. It gave the mutants unspeakable power, but before the war drew on, their immune systems failed, and their bodies decayed. I rescued Caesar so he could continue his research on Punk Hazard, which had long since been marked forbidden due to the cloud of Bang Gas. Caesar cleared the gas away and made space for him and his mutated accomplices to roam around. G.U.N. has feared to come here because of its landscape and many reactive acids. But across these many years, he’s formed communications with many patrons who desire his knowledge for the mutation gas.”

“Who else besides Darth Genious buys from him?”

“Big names, actually. But that shouldn’t matter. Anyhow… now that you know the truth of your father, I suppose you’ll be wanting to kill me?”

“Hmmm… funny thing is, the pain goes away after such a long time. Of course, I _will_ need to kick your ass for having a role in this whole operation.”

“Hmm… then I challenge you… to come at me.”

“Right then… you said it…” With that, Nolan boosted forward in attempt to punch, but Vergo swiftly dodged to the side. Nolan turned, but- “OOF!” Vergo punched him clear in the face, knocking him several feet away, off his chair.

“It’s fortunate for me you have dysfunctional legs…” Vergo spoke calmly. “Otherwise, you might prove a threat. But no…”

Nolan tried to help himself up, but fast as lightning, Vergo zipped behind him and punched him forward. “OWW!!” He managed to grab his wheelchair and climb back on, turning to face Vergo, but the general kicked his chest and sent him rolling backward. Nolan rolled all the way to the railing in the foyer room, and ended up falling backward, onto the lower floor with a thud.

Nolan could barely hold himself up, his vision blurring as the tall, buff general stepped forward. “Err, you won’t get away with this… Vergo…”

The general stood over him imposingly. “You will address me as Vergo…- _san_.” And Nolan’s vision blackened when his face met with the bottom of Vergo’s boot.

**Caesar’s Lab**

The mad scientist wore goggles as he stared closely at a strange, glowing banana. He stuck a syringe of green substance into the banana and smiled ecstatically as he stood up, pulling off his goggles. “At LAST, they’re _dooooone_! Five, specially made Vita-Z Bananas!” He placed the banana by four other ones. “Now I just need to get these shipped to Specter for ANOTHER satisfied customer! Take care of that for me, will you?” he told a nearby henchman, handing him the bananas.

“Yes, Master!” The man saluted and hurried off.

Caesar then turned and smiled evilly at the group of four glaring kids inside the prison cell; which appeared to be a large, movable box with bars. Dillon and Haruka also had chi-blocking cuffs around their wrists. “Ahhh, kids.” He said calmly as he stepped toward them. “They have their WHOLE lives ahead of them.” He grabbed the cell bars and phased his head through, grinning over them. “Whether it’s 70 years or only a few minutes… shurororo!” He walked back to his terminal and studied the outside area. “Nooow then… let’s take a look at our weather forecast! Today’s calls for a chance of endless snow; _oh, that’s surprising_ , blistering flames around the east, and-… a 50-foot tall mountain of SLUDGE???”

He noticed the towering Toxichu in the distance and zoomed the camera closer. Caesar’s face beamed at the sight of those familiar, glowing yellow eyes. “It’s…” his eyes became teary as he grinned, “Smileeeeyyy, hoo hoo hoo hooooo!”

That’s when Vergo walked in, pushing a wheelchair with someone familiar. “I have returned, Master Caesar.”

“Ha HAAAA, well DONE, Verrrgoooo!!” Caesar yelled perkily.

The four kids gasped with shock when they saw he was pushing an unconscious Nolan York. Vergo opened the cell and shoved the man inside, off his wheelchair as he then shut the door. Dillon crawled over to shake him awake. “Dad! Dad! Wake up!”

“Nnnn, Dillon?” The Sandman looked up, finding his son over him. He realized he was handcuffed and inside a cell with Dillon’s other friends. Except… “Where’s Kaleo?”

“We don’t know.” Haruka replied.

“Shurororo!” They all looked up as Caesar drifted over. “Your daddy wasn’t originally invited to this party, but NOW that he’s here, we can get things started!”

“Where’s my cousin?!” Dillon yelled.

“How should I know?? I just assumed he was on the train with the others. I had Monet guide them back, perhaps I should ask…” The doors slid open again, and they looked to see Monet fly in.

“Master Caesar, hm hm!” the woman giggled. “I’ve found who you’re talking about!” This was followed by the sounds of stomping, and everyone’s mouths widened. In stepped Kaleo Anderson, at least 10 feet tall, as big as the other giants.

“HI, GUYS!!” The giant boy exclaimed, his grin wide as always. “HA HA! You guys look so TINY from up here!! I wanna keep you in a jar!!”

“K…Kaleo!...” Haruka couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Hm hm hm!” Monet laughed. “I found him sneaking our candy out of the supply room! He had a real strong craving for it!”

“Shurororo!” Caesar floated up by Leo’s big head. “Sooo… THIS is the result of NHC10 on poisonbenders! If little Haruka had taken it, the same thing might’ve happened to her! You just missed out on being bigger than all your friends, Deaaariiiiee!” He grinned at the girl.

“I wouldn’t want it either way!” Haru yelled. “Kaleo, you need to stop eating that stuff, it’s dangerous!”

“Owwww…” Caesar smiled still when Kaleo fell to his knees, holding his head.

“Shurororo! You can _try_ and tell them to quit… but kids these days only LIVE for candy.” He said, floating to the prisoners. “And I’M practically candy to these kids! ‘Cause after all…” he stuck his head through the cell, bending down to Sandman’s glaring face, “you REALLY can’t ignore _me_ … can you?” He stood back up and walked to the terminal. “Sooo, kids, you’re just in time for my ultimate show! I was going to send my minions to get it started, but it seems your little friends went ahead and started for me. Take a look at the screen!” They did so and saw the towering mountain of sludge, which grew smaller as it spat little parts at a time across the lake, so it could reform in the Frozen Lands.

“What is that?” Haruka asked.

“A little creature I call SMILEY!” Caesar’s grin beamed. “Because he’s SOOOO full of ener _gyyyyyy_!!!” He looked positively gleeful. “So much energy, that… he’s willing to EXPLODE with it!! Hoo hoo! And you can’t have a party without a piñata, right?”

“What are you planning, Caesar?” Nolan asked.

“As soon as the last of him is over, I’ll show you! But first, my test demonstration!” With that, Caesar pushed a button, and they watched as the ceiling opened above their cage. A crane lowered down from outside as it latched the cage and lifted the five into the blistering cold.

The group sat calmly as the rooftop crane turned and brought them over the snowy ground, a little over the roof’s edge. It lowered them so the cage’s back was against the wall, and from their view, they could see the last of the Big Toxichu making its way over, so the slimy behemoth towered as high as the snowy mountains. It viewed around the area in confusion as Caesar’s image appeared on a gigantic TV screen.

_“Yoohoooo! SMILEEEEYY!”_

The blob looked up at the smiling, joyous scientist. _“Wwwwaaabwyyyy?”_

_“Ohhh, Smiley, it’s been so LOOoooong! I’m so sorry for locking you in that garage, oooohhh!”_

_“Wabwwwaaaaa.”_

_“Thaaat’s right, I’M your daaaddyyyyy! And I’ve got you a SPECIAL treat!”_ He held up a tiny butterscotch.

_“Waaaambwyyyyy?”_

_“Yeeees CANdyyyyy! Enjoy it to your HEART’S content!”_

A giant cannon emerged from the distance and took aim toward Smiley. The prisoners watched as the cannon blasted a tremendous, wrapped piece of candy in purple wrapping. Attracted, the Smiley blob wobbled over with its mouth wide open. He swallowed the tasty treat whole, its gooey mouth wobbling as it chewed and savored the taste. However, after a few minutes, it stopped chewing, and froze in place. The group shut their eyes when the mountain of sludge suddenly brimmed with pure white, blinding the whole region. White soon engulfed the whole area when the toxic demon vanished in a humongous explosion.

When the light cleared, their mouths dropped open wide. The monster exploded into a tremendous cloud of thick, purple gas, slowly spreading across the island. “Wh…What is that?!” Haruka yelled.

“It’s Bang Gas!!” Nolan exclaimed.

_“SHUROrororooo! At long last, my special Bang Gas-Z is COOOMPLEEETE! In a matter of seconds, ANYONE caught in its cloud will morph into a full-fledged SUPER mutant! I wouldn’t stand outside too long if I were you, booooyyys! Oh, and just ditch those protection suits! They can’t protect you against THAT!”_

“R…Right away, Master Caesar!” the men outside yelled, quickly ditching their suits. “AAAAHHH!” They hightailed away before the gas could swallow them.

“Grrrr!” Dillon struggled to force the chi-block cuffs off of him. “If we don’t get outta here, we’re good as gassed!”

“Even if we break away, we’ll never be able to get into an entrance!” Haruka exclaimed.

“Can’t you just poisonbend it??” Maddy yelled.

“I can’t bend Bang Gas like Caesar, it’s way too thick!”

“Well, I guess this is it.” Zach moaned as he shut his eyes in despair. “I hope I at least morph into a Yipper human.”

“Don’t give up NOW!” They looked as Aeincha climbed out of Nolan’s coat, the Lilliputian vibrant as ever.

“Who’re you?” Zach asked.

“I’m Aeincha! I came in Mr. York-san’s coat! It was sweaty!”

“Well, can you get us outta here??” Maddy asked frantically.

“Nooo problem! It’s time for a taste of TEENY power!” She joyfully hopped over to Nolan and stuck her tiny arms into his handcuff keyhole. After fiddling with the locks, the Sandman broke free. With that, she hopped over to uncuff Zach and Maddy’s hands, but she had trouble with Dillon and Haruka. “Uh-oh. These chi-blocking cuffs have some… _special_ security.”

“No problem- Ow.” Nolan grunted as he helped himself up. “I can… get us outta here.” He limped toward the cell door and bumped into it forcefully, several times until it came open. He grabbed the bars outside and climbed to the top of the cage, and Dillon and Haruka held Maddy and Zach as the latters climbed up after. Once all were on top, Nolan proceeded to take out a grappling hook. “Thankfully I had this spare one just in case. Everybody, grab on.”

All the kids held onto Sandman as he took aim at the crane which hung their cage. He launched the grappler and latched the top of the crane, swinging the group across the roofs and into the hatch which they were lifted out of. They recovered and faced Caesar and his henchmen, while Nolan limped over and helped himself into his wheelchair. “Grrrr. You kids ARE troublesome. The TWO of you, leave and see to the rest of the laboratory. I’ll deal with them mySELF.”

Vergo and Monet nodded and left their master. “Come along, Leo!” Monet said caringly as she led the giant, dimwitted child along.

“Shurorororororo! Are you impressed?? At last, my special Bang Gas-Z RISES again! However, there is a distinct difference from the gas from 23 years ago: the mutants infected with it were super, true, but they didn’t last long AT ALL! But now, using all the blood samples I extracted from the children after all that NHC10, my gas has come into PERFECTION! With over 10,000 gallons of this Bang Gas-Z, I will be able to make THOUSANDS of brand new, super-powered Devil Fruits!! All my customers will be filled with _glee_ , and I’ll be SWIMMING in dough!”

“What in the world WAS that blob monster, anyway?!” Nolan demanded.

“Shurororo! THAT, my friends, was once the enormous cloud of Bang Gas that swallowed the island more than 20 years ago! Using my superb powers, I bunched ALL of that delicious gas into a humongous blob of sludge. I kept the little devil inside that garage until the time came to let him out, and my SPECIAL formula was complete. Ahhhh.” He wiped a tear from his eye. “It only seems like yesterday when I exploded him the first time. His gaseous cloud, ENGULFING everything, and making me what I am today.” He grinned evilly. “My skin turned white, horns appeared on my head, and I was FULLY awakened as a metahuman!”

“Oh, _I_ understand.” Nolan spoke up. “That’s your depressing backstory: the gas mutated you and you felt like a freak, so you made it your life’s goal to mutate everything ELSE around you, too.”

“Depressing?! Are you mad?! It’s the best thing to happen to me in YEARS! My _own_ body, genetically altered… it felt like a _dream_ come true. Huuuu.” He sighed grumpily. “Unfortunately, the gas I produced back THEN was faulty, and it wasn’t STRONG enough! All these people, including myself, only developed simple HORNS! No special powers or anything! That’s why… I decided to reCREATE the experiment, with the greatest batch of Bang Gas around!”

“Well, it’s time someone put you in your place!” Nolan declared. “I’m bringing you to justice once and for all!”

“LET’S see you TRY it!”

“You kids stand back, I can take him.” Nolan told the operatives as he fixed his gas mask on. “This takes a little gas vs. gas.”

“We’ll just SEE who’s the gassiest around here!” Caesar declared. “But just ‘cause I’m a good sport, I’ll give you a 30-second head start. Get ready, Nolan! It’s the Sandman vs. the GASman!”

 

_Boss fight: Caesar Clown_

Caesar merely stood there smugly as Nolan rolled forward. The Sandman stood up and proceeded to deal the first few punches, but his fists went right through his gassy body. “ShuroROROROROroro!” Nolan angrily kept swinging his fists, but his attacks did nothing. “Well, COME ON! You just gonna swing your fists around aimlessly or are you gonna FIGHT me??”

“Dad, he’s a Logia-type!” Dillon yelled. “He can’t be touched!”

“A Logia?”

“ShuROROrororo! Awww, you spoiled the surpriiiise.” Caesar frowned. He looked at his nonexistent watch, “Ooh! ! Only 10 seconds LEEEeeeeft! What’re you gonna DO, Nolan?...” He evil smile was more witty than ever.

It was then that Nolan remembered one of Dodds’ most important lessons…

_Nolan was 18 years old. He threw quick punches against his mentor as Wesley defended, until Nolan kicked his leg and knocked him down. “Hoo…” Wesley sighed as he got back up, and Nolan sat in his chair. “Well, broken legs or not… you’ve really shaped up.”_

_“Heh, before you know it, I’ll be kicking your butt WITHOUT needing my wheelchair!”_

_“Almost, Son… but even though you beat me, there’s some enemies that are just untouchable. I’ve told you about Logia humans, haven’t I?”_

_“Yeah, like Madame Rouge.”_

_“And she gave you a bit of trouble, didn’t she?”_

_“Shyeah…”_

_“In regular circumstances, such people are almost invincible. However… it’s time I teach you a special ability that everyone has.”_

_“Wh…What’s that?”_

_“Haki. The art of pushing your own senses beyond their limit. Haki revolves around taking the natural human senses, and enhancing them through your own power. Doing so usually requires channeling your body’s chi, kind of like what the benders do. Here’s an example:” Wesley raised his fist, and Nolan stared amazed as his arm seemed to turn to iron. Wesley ran forward and PUNCHED the ground, causing it to crack._

_“Whooooaa!”_

_“That there was Armament Haki. This is an enhancement of your own physical strength. Making your body seem hard as iron as you deal incredible damage, and shield yourself from other attacks. But it’s not just that: Armament Haki allows one to penetrate the defenses of Logia humans.”_

_“So I could beat someone like Madame Rouge?”_

_“Exactly. Next, there’s Observation Haki, the more basic move. This one requires extending the senses, detecting how many living things there are in one area, and even predicting the enemies’ next moves by reading just their movements. This power originated from psychicbenders’ senses.”_

_“It’s kind of like earthbenders, too.”_

_“Yes, but they could only see things on the ground. Anyway, those are the two main forms of Haki… but there’s also a third type: Conqueror’s Haki. A very powerful form, found in only a choice few people: it allows one to knock out hundreds of enemies through just intimidation. Of course… neither of us have it. But the first two, however, are found in every being. It only matters whether or not one has the willpower to unleash it. The art of showing no fear… that’s what Haki is.”_

_“Hmmm…”_

_“You may take awhile to perfect it… but it’ll come to you in time. Anyway… let’s begin your first lesson.”_

And after all this time… Nolan finally needed it. “Five… four… three… two…” Caesar kept counting, still with his cocky grin.

With all his might, Nolan threw his fist, and PUNCHED Caesar upside the chin. The kids’ mouths dropped as the clown flew backward, smashing into a wall. “Ooooww!” Caesar stood up, angry as his nose bled. “Y-You’re a… HAKI user?!”

Nolan stretched his fingers before balling his fist, a serious look behind his mask. “Where’s your Logia now?”

“Hurrrr! I don’t need Logia for YOU!” Caesar blasted a cloud of gas, but Nolan’s mask made him immune.

“Heh!” Nolan proceeded to deal more punches across Caesar’s face, before knocking the scientist several feet to his left. Nolan got in his chair, and Caesar got up and glared as Nolan rolled toward him for more.

“AIRLESS WORLD!” Caesar exclaimed as he slammed his hands together.

“Gu-ack!” Nolan stopped and suddenly couldn’t breathe, falling from his chair as he tried to gasp.

“Dad!”

“ShuroROROrorororo! It’s true, I can’t fully control air like an airbender, but either way you look at it, oxygen is a gas, too! The air is so purified, however, that most poisonbenders can’t control it. But I’ve ascended to the level where I can manipulate it! I’ve removed the oxygen around you, so even your GAS mask can’t give you breath!”

“So THAT’S how he was able to stop the S.P.I.C.E.R.’s flame!” Haruka deduced. “Fire needs oxygen in order to blare!”

“And that’s not the LEAST of it!” Caesar exclaimed as he whipped out a hilt with no sword. They watched as a blue beam of energy emerged and shaped like a sword, and Caesar swung it around.

“He’s got a lightsaber!” Dillon pointed.

“Not quite!” Caesar corrected. “I channel the oxygen I’ve extracted around this lighter, to create my very own oxidized flame! And now it’s time for Mr. York to MEET his destiny!” He raised his lightsaber and was about to bring it down on Nolan’s neck.

Time seemed to stop around the Sandman as the world faded to darkness. A green glow came from his coat, and he reached in to pull out his Gem of Dreams: a gift from the Nightmare Spirit, Morpheus. He clutched the gem tight and closed his eyes.

Caesar brought the flaming sword down, but- “Huhn?!” Sandman’s body suddenly transformed into sand and breezed backward as it brought his chair along. The sand formed onto the chair, and Nolan’s body was back. “Y-You’re a Logia-type SANDbender?!”

“Not exactly. It’s a special power from the Gem of Dreams. It was Wesley’s last gift to me, given to him from the spirit, Morpheus.”

“Ohhh… THAT guy. Siiiigh.” Caesar looked at his “watch” again. “You know, this fight’s slowly losing my interest. I’ve got other things to do, sooo…” He stuck his fingers in his mouth and made a whistle. (Play “You Should Have Listened To My Warning” from _Batman: Arkham City_.)

The doors opened as a squad of Caesar’s minions scurried in. They felt the ground quake, and the kids gaped as none other than Mocha stomped in, her eyes still lifeless as she craved the tasty sweet. _“Caaaandyyyyy.”_

“I thought things would be a little more fun this way.” Caesar remarked. “Let’s get ready tooooo TANGOOOO!” And with that, the clown flew away as the group readied to battle the minions.

 

_Sub-boss: Mocha_

Nolan and the operatives worked together to battle the underlings, dealing the first few hits against them, but Nolan jumped back when Mocha punched down at him. _“Raaaaahhh!”_ Drooling with hunger, the giant child kept trying to punch him, but Nolan dodged, sped forward, and pushed the child backward, making her fall to her hands and knees. Nolan began to lay a series of punches across her face.

“Dad, be careful, she’s a friend!” Dillon yelled, trying to bash some minions with his cuffed hands. The iron-hard cuffs proved to be very helpful.

“Yeah, don’t worry!” With Mocha dizzied, Nolan grabbed her thick hair and flung himself onto her head.

 _“Raaaahh!”_ Mocha roared like a monster as Nolan had her tamed, and as the minions surrounded them, Mocha swung her arms around to swat them away. A squad of minions jumped and grabbed onto the giant, but Mocha charged forward like a bull and RAMMED headfirst into a wall, knocking the minions off as the girl gripped her head. Nolan hopped off and started to beat away more minions. Two tried to punch him, but Nolan grabbed their fists and swiftly flipped over to knock them down.

Dillon jumped off a minion’s head and caught his arms and cuffs around another one’s neck, causing him to choke. Dillon helped himself off as Maddy ran to kick the man’s stomach. Mocha shortly recovered as she stomped toward Nolan, trying to punch down at the cripple. “Heeeey, Mocha!” She looked over as Zach held up a piece of the fake butterscotch. “I have tasty caaaandyyyy!”

 _“Raaahhh!”_ Mocha desperately stomped toward the boy and swung her arms aimlessly. Zach ran around a bunch of minions and caused the giant to swat them all away. Zach was cornered against a wall, but- “Too slow!” he dodged between her legs when she tried to grab him. She turned around, but that’s when Nolan sped over and shoved her against the wall, knocking her down. The Sandman dealt more punches across her face before hopping on her head.

He began to control Mocha again as she stomped around and swatted away minions. Some minions that were knocked on the ground, Mocha stomped on them and crushed their bones like sticks. Haruka wrapped her cuffs around another man’s neck as the giant girl stomped toward him. Haruka ran before the giant punched the man against the ground, then shook Nolan off of her head. Nolan was back in his chair as Mocha came for him, but he simply boosted and knocked her down again. Nolan dealt more punches across her face, until finally, “Armament!” he dealt a forceful uppercut, shot into the air, and PUNCHED straight down on her cranium. The giant girl wobbled dizzily before falling to her front, shaking the floor upon impact. (End song.)

“Siiiigh.” Nolan sighed with shame. “I just beat up a little girl… for shame. By the way, why is she giant, anyway?”

“Ever heard of a drug called NHC10?” Haruka asked.

“Ahh. Say no more.”

“We can’t let Caesar give them any more of that stuff!” Dillon exclaimed.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan.”

The doors opened again, and they heard the patter of rushing feet. “Nolan!” Crystal and Yuki came hurrying in the room, followed by Sector W7.

“Crystal! Yuki!”

“Whoa, what happened here?” Yuki asked, seeing the unconscious men and giant girl.

“Long story. Where’ve you guys been?”

“Trying to find Dillon and the kids.” Crystal stated.

“By the way, did you happen to notice the-“ Yuki started.

“-gigantic cloud of Bang Gas that’s filling up the island?” Nolan finished. “This whole situation just turned into something else. We’ll hopefully be safe as long as we’re in the building; but that’s as long as all of the entrances are closed.”

“Didn’t Sector W7 leave a hole in the building with their train?” Yuki asked.

“Oh, crap!!”

“That hole was near the playroom, too!” Haruka yelled. “What if Caesar brought the kids back there?”

Nolan checked his map, the worry rushing in his chest. “It says there’s two entrances to the playroom, a front and back. The train crashed near the front, so; assume that way is blocked by now, and hurry around to the back!”

“But how’re we gonna get everyone out of here??” Dillon questioned.

Nolan skimmed the map, and saw there was a deep, lower floor. “Hey! There’s a group of interconnected tunnels beneath the island that lead miles under the ocean! I bet Caesar uses these to transport his products! We could all probably escape if we took one of them!”

“But what about my Rocket-san??” Chimney yelled.

“Just sacrifice it, Chimney, our _lives_ are more important.” Apis told her.

“Nnnn… I guess.”

At this time, Dillon’s group had searched the unconscious men’s pockets and found keys to unlock their cuffs. “Phew! Now things should be easier!” Dillon said as he and Haruka rubbed their wrists.

“Any for me??” Yuki said as he frantically ran around and checked all the keys that they had. “Aw, dang!!” To no avail.

“Come on, we have to find the kids and get off this island!” Dillon yelled rushedly.

“But there’s STILL the matter of them being monsters!” Haruka reminded. “It might be bad to bring ‘em to the Undersea Lab if they’re like that!”

“Not quite… I have a plan.” Nolan rolled up to Mocha and pulled out a syringe to extract some blood from the unconscious giant. “Do any of you have a sample of the candy?” Haruka held up her saved candy piece. Nolan took it, then rolled over to one of Caesar’s machines. “Since Mocha’s been exposed to this stuff for years, I can probably use her blood sample and the equipment in this lab to whip up an antibody.”

“Since when are YOU the medical specialist?” Crystal remarked.

“Um, Mr. York?” Haruka spoke up. “Do you think _I_ could help make up the cure? I’ve done a lot of studying, and…”

“Yeah, you should!” Dillon perked. “Haruka can heal almost any injury, she’d be a big help!”

“She even helped heal ME once!” Aeincha beamed.

“Well… I guess it’s okay. But; no time to lose! Crystal, I want you and Dillon’s group to find the other kids and lead them to safety; even if they’re monstrified. Yuki, I want _you_ and Sector W7 to find the room where Caesar creates his Devil Fruits, and shut it down. I’d like to kill two birds in one stone on this mission.”

“Oi, why’re YOU giving the orders, adaruto-san?!” Chimney asked hatefully.

“Gyom-gyom!”

“Look, just DO it, okay? If we can stop Caesar’s Bang Gas business entirely, we’ll never have to worry about anyone using this Bang Gas-Z stuff. Crystal, Yuki, I’ve sent the location of the underground tunnels to your cellphones.” The two checked their phones. “Make your way there after you’ve completed your assignments. Now hurry up, and whatever you do, stay AWAY from the Bang Gas.”

The two teams nodded seriously and dashed away, while Nolan and Haruka began to work in the laboratory.

**Building R Control Room**

Caesar and a squad of his minions watched the monitors as Bang Gas-Z slowly filled up the building. He smiled humorously as the two teams hurried off to complete their assignments. “Shurorororororo! Those fools will NEVER save everyone in time!” He pulled out a communicator and spoke, “Are the two of you in place?”

**Biscuit Room**

The swarm of multiracial kids struggled to break free as they were trapped inside solid ice. Monet hovered around the ceiling as she caused snow to fall. She spoke into the watch on her wing, “The children are secured nice and tight, Caesar! I can’t wait to ambush those kids if they come!”

**Devil Fruit Production Chamber**

General Vergo leaned along a railing as he stared at the series of huge containers and machines. He spoke into his phone, “The SMILEs chamber is safe for now. I will exterminate anyone who comes.”

**Control Room**

“Shurororororo! If those guys want a PARTY, I say we GIVE ‘EM one! Ohhhhh, they’re going to have SO much fun, _theeeey’ll juuuuust diiiiiieeee!”_

Everyone’s sights were set. Crystal’s focused on the Biscuit Room, where Monet waited, Yuki focused on the SMILE room, where Vergo waited. And once Nolan was done with his projects, he was heading for Caesar. Their missions were set… and so were their battles.

 

**Hoooo. Wow, this chapter actually went a lot better than expected! Earlier, it was so much different; Nolan was actually supposed to fight Caesar later, and we were actually gonna fight Monet, but I like how this turned out better. This way, I think I actually save time. X) But yeah, things are getting pretty rushed here, I mean all this crap is happening, we gotta get the children out, the base is filling with gas, etc.. X) So next time, we will attempt to do all those things and find a way out of this mess. So see you later!**


	7. Mocha’s Sacrifice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heroes struggle to escape Punk Hazard while saving the kids. As Crystal and Yuki battle Caesar's henchmen, a sacrifice is made.

**Okay, everybody, it's time to make like they do on _One Piece_ and GET to rushin' mode, 'cause this conflict is just heating up! Let's go!  
________________________________________**

****

**_

Chapter 7: Mocha’s Sacrifice

_**

**Building R Control Room ******

"Shurororororo!" Caesar cackled joyously, watching the monitors. "Ahhh, look at those fools scurry like simple rats! I can't WAIT to see how they look as SUPER-mutants!"

As his surrounding henchmen watched the monitors as well, they noticed something very familiar about that Bang Gas. "M…Master Caesar?" one spoke.

"Hmmm? What?"

"That explosion earlier… well… it looks just like the explosion from 25 years ago. The one that mutated all of us."

"Mmmmm…" Caesar tried to think.

"You said…You said Gerald Robotnik caused that explosion… didn't you?"

"…" Caesar could still remember that day.

_25 years ago. Punk Hazard was still an active place. And Caesar was much younger. He hadn't created his gassy coat yet, his horns were absent, and his hair was much shorter. He stood before a machine with a container of Bang Gas, staring at the red button with malice. "What are you doing?..." He turned around, seeing the bald man with the white mustache, and blue glasses that was his master: Gerald Robotnik. "You know that thing is experimental. You can doom us all."_

_But Caesar wasn't scared. He merely grinned maniacally as he declared, "I'm willing to risk ANYTHING for the sake of SCIENCE!"_

_"Don't people's lives matter to you?! People were never meant to be test subjects! Some things are more important than science…"_

_"Is THIS coming from my so-called MASTER?! To call you the greatest scientist in the world is an INSULT to us all! One day, I will show the world that CAESAR Jonathan Clown is the greatest genius in the world, and NOT your inferior intellect!"_

_"Caesar! Wait-"_

_"In the name of science-" he raised his finger high above the button, "I PRESS THEEEEE!" His finger slammed down, and in just 10 seconds, the island exploded with Bang Gas._

_A few years passed before Caesar returned. He cleared the humongous cloud of Bang Gas and stuffed it into a garage in the Burning Lands. He was ecstatic to see what mutants became of the people who remained on the island. To his disappointment… there was little change about them. Well, their lower bodies were those of animals, and they had horns… but they were barely mutated at all._

_"Ho-o-o-o, THANK you, Master Caesar!" one of the men exclaimed tearily. "If we can all get home!..."_

_"HOME?? Do you expect GUN to let you run around with THOSE?!" He indicated their animal parts. "I had only just escaped my imprisonment because I was mutated! I'm a freeeeeaaaak." His face bore a very sad look as he wept. "And they'll treat YOU all the same way, TOO. And it's ALL that Gerald Robotnik's fault! Letting out all that Bang Gas… The only way you'll survive in this world is if you stay with_ me _. GUN will be afraid to come back here because of what's happened… so as long as you stay here and work under me, you'll never have to worry about arrest…" And his evil smile returned._

Caesar's head was down as he sighed depressedly. "I tried to stop him… but he inSISTed on blowing it up. He wanted to do ANYthing for the sake of science. He never cared about the lives of his workers… and because of him, neither of us can ever go home. And the only way to make money is to sell to criminals using this underground business. I'm terribly sorry…" he sniffled and held an arm over his weeping eyes, "I can't do anything more for you."

"Oh, it's okay, Master!" They all grinned. "You saved us all to begin with! We're sorry we ever doubted you!"

"Ohhh… my loyal minions…" Caesar smiled with joy, tears still dripping from his yellow eyes. They all focused on the monitors again, as his tears faded and his evil grin returned.

**Crystal's group, down a hall**

Crystal and Dillon's group kept running as the former stared at her phone's map. "This way!" she yelled, running down a right hall. The group immediately stopped when the cloud of purple gas was headed their way.

"Wrong way, wrong way!" Dillon yelled as they retreated further down the previous hall.

"Guess we'll have to go the long way." Crystal figured.

"They're closing the doors up ahead!" Maddy pointed as a row of metal doors were closing down the hall.

"Better make a break for it!" Crystal yelled. The woman swiftly slid under the doors just before they closed, followed by the others, and the Bang Gas was shielded for now.

"Phew. Let's hope Caesar isn't planning to open them again." Dillon huffed.

The team of four made several more turns until they finally made it to the back entrance. "This is it!" Crystal confirmed. The witch was the first to burst in as she twirled and aimed her staff. "Children, do not be alarmed. We're here to-" Their eyes widened at what the playroom had become: snow was blizzarding all around, as if the roof had been opened to let in the outside air. The children were frozen solid, still with their ravenous expressions.

"Mm... ha ha ha ha ha!" They looked up as Monet hovered over them, snow falling from her wings. "Well well... I see some people were tardy to the party."

"Who are you?!" Crystal demanded as she aimed her staff.

"I'm Monet Sinclaire. Caesar's secretary. Hm-hm, you shouldn't worry about these children. I can assure you, I'm taking good care of them. Nothing controls their temper better than chilling their bones."

"That's not how you deal with these types of situations." Crystal stated. "And judging by all this snow, I assume you're an icebender."

"Hm hm hm, that's right. But I much prefer snow. It has a much more... _angelic_ feel to it."

"Angelic, huh? What are you, a Nimbi?" Dillon asked curiously.

"Not quite. I ate one of Caesar's Devil Fruits: the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Harpy. This, combined with my icebending makes me a Bird of the Snow, like Articuno." She winked.

"Well, if there's _one_ thing that's overstayed its welcome, it's all this snow." Crystal remarked.

"I don't mind all these snow days." Zach noted.

"Well, it's not healthy without protective clothing anyway, so-" Crystal blasted a fireball to the bird woman, but Monet zipped down and scratched her upside the head with her talons. Dillon flew up with Shadow Glide and tried to come down on her, but Monet swatted him away with her wings, then Zach and Maddy ran to try and punch her, but she flapped her huge wings and blew them back.

"Looks like she's an airbender, too." Dillon noticed.

"Not exactly, it's really a special power given from the Devil Fruit." Monet smiled. "Likely resulted from harvesting from all these Nimbi kids."

"Hurrrr!" Crystal charged again and tried to whack the bird woman, but she grabbed the witch's staff in her talons and twirled it away from her hands, then forced the woman against the wall. Crystal struggled to stand up, but the bird woman blasted ice and froze her against the wall. She turned and saw the other kids charging for her, so the woman flapped her wings and formed a giant ball of snow above her. She hurled the snow at the three kids and had them buried in an instant.

"Nnnn!" The kids struggled to shake out of the snow. It felt thick as glue.

"Hm hm hm, my snow is as strong as _regular_ ice… except stronger." Monet smirked. "And besides, when one is buried in something so beautiful, who would want to climb out? You'll be frozen ice cubes in mere minutes." She winked again. "It was fun playing with you, but we're on a very tight schedule. But don't worry, we aren't leaving you out of the party. Once I go get the candy, I'll distribute evenly. Hm hm hm!" And with one last wink, the woman flapped out of the playroom and froze the entrance on her way out.

**With Yuki's group**

"OIIIII! TO VICTORY, CHAAAAANS!" Chimney cried as she ran like a cheetah down the halls.

"Do you even know where you're going?!" Yuki yelled as they struggled to stay after her.

"NO IDEA!" she yelled as she and Gonbe left a trail of dust in their wake.

"You know, I think my foot's starting to feel better." Aisa mentioned as Apis still had to carry her.

"Just in case, we should try not to put much pressure on it."

Chimney and Gonbe made a zip down a left hall, but stopped as the Bang Gas-Z was flowing their way. "GYAAAH BAD IDEA!" They dashed back.

"Gyom-gyooom!"

They hurried away faster while Yuki looked back, feeling nervous at the incoming gas cloud. "Grrrr!" He stopped, grabbed his pack's hose, and began to freeze an ice wall as fast as he could. By the time he finished, only a little bit of gas was able to leak through, so they got away safely. "Wonder how long the ice can hold. Better find this Devil Fruit room fast."

Chimney and Gonbe zipped down another left hall, speeding past a door, before coming back and standing still before the door. 'DEVIL FRUIT PRODUCTION CHAMBER'. "OIII! On'nanoko-chans, I FOUND IIIIT!" She ran in first.

The others stopped before the door as well. "All right!" Apis cheered as they ran in.

The SMILEs Chamber was a huge factory room with many large containers of Devil Fruit substance. They stood on a wide-open balcony that overlooked the chamber. Standing along the balcony's ledge was General Vergo. "Who're you?" Yuki simply asked.

"It's not polite to demand someone's name before giving your own. I am Vergo. Former general in the G.U.N.. I assume you are acquainted with young Mr. York."

"Yah… and how do _you_ know him?"

"I was acquainted with his father. And to be frank, I am amazed… Young Sand-san can feel no anger after knowing I was responsible for his father's death."

"What?!" Yuki suddenly felt furious.

"It seems he really _has_ taken a liking to Batman. He is very close-minded. Not letting himself feel. What a pitiful man…"

"Maybe he just doesn't want his head clouded with negative thoughts. Did you ever think of that?"

"No matter how you look at it, it is a pitiful sight. He only adopted that persona with the hopes of making a difference in this world. In the end… he does not possess the strength. His dreams are only hopeless-"

"OIIII!" Chimney screamed. "Don't say that 'bout Mr. York-san! He may be an ugly adaruto, but he fights 'cause he believes in good and peace! And that's a dream worth fighting for!"

"Hmph… only simple little girls would idol someone for pursuing a futile dream. Only because such girls pursue their _own_ silly dreams."

"What?!" Chimney yelled.

"I've done research on you, Sector W7… do you really believe you'll get anywhere? A train that can go almost anywhere?" Chimney gritted her teeth. "Taking cosmetology to new heights with a small size?" Aeincha furrowed her eyes. "Thinking friendships will last forever?" April kept her emotionless frown, but inside, she was slightly hurt. "Little girls' dreams are just little girls' dreams. They yell all they want… but ultimately, their voices are unheard."

"Grrrr TRY AND UNHEAR THIS, Baka-saaan!" Chimney dashed and leaped to kick the general, but Vergo easily grabbed her foot and held her upside-down.

"Hm… and just as well, little girls' actions mean nothing." With that, he threw Chimney back, the girl sliding across the floor.

"You know, Nolan may not feel any personal grudges, but that doesn't mean I can't be angry for him as his friend." Yuki stated. "I'll kick your ass all by myself."

"Oi! WE'RE helping, too!" Chimney reminded as she got to her feet.

"Hm… a chi-blocked icebender with only a backpack." Vergo looked smug behind his sunglasses. "Though you might fair better if you had this." He held up a tiny key in his fingers.

"Hu?!" Yuki gasped. "That's the…"

"Key to your cuffs." Vergo hid the key back under his coat. "You have no chance at taking it from me."

"Five against one, those're pretty fair numbers." Yuki smirked.

"Gyom-gyom!" Gonbe furrowed.

"Oh, six."

"A-hem!" Aeincha huffed.

"Um… you're kinda small."

"So??"

"Ugh, forget it. I'm taking that key back now. Haaah!" He ran for the general and attempted to throw a punch.

"Armament."

The minute Yuki's fist collided, the icebender felt pain surge through. "…Ooooooww!"

The strong general dealt a forceful punch against Yuki and knocked him back. "Nolan-san is not the only one skilled with Haki. I happen to be quite proficient with Armament Haki. My armor is impenetrable."

"Grrr!" Yuki growled at the man as his nose bled. The icebender got up and blasted ice from his pack, only for Vergo to dodge like lightning and punch him away again.

"You sacrifice so much for your friend. That's why you tirelessly travel between countries to assist him. In the end… this will cause you to die."

Yuki flipped to his feet and blasted iceballs as fast as he could. Vergo stood in place as only his arms moved, punching away each shot before zipping over to kick Yuki's legs. Yuki weakly opened his eyes as Vergo stood over him. "Before your untimely passing, I would like you to address me as Vergo-san. It will ultimately establish my victory over you."

"Oiiii!" Vergo looked over at a furious Chimney. "You'll have to get all SEVEN of us to call you THAT, Baka-san! Let's get 'im, on'nanokos!" Chimney ran at him first, throwing a series of punches and kicks which Vergo easily blocked. He glanced right when Aisa dashed up, wielding an Impact Dial, but Vergo zipped over, threw a punch, only for Aisa to swiftly dodge right. Apis ran from behind in attempt to jump and cover the man's eyes, but when she jumped, Vergo flipped and kicked her away. April ran to try and paint a pink symbol on him, but he gripped her face and threw her back.

"It seems you kids are far from learning true respect. It looks like I must teach it to you… the _hard_ way."

**Laboratory**

Nolan and Haruka watched as the glass tube of blue potion emerged from the machine. Nolan carefully opened the tube and poured it into his syringe. "This antibody should hold off the effects of the NHC10; but we'll have to rely on the Undersea Lab to cure them entirely."

"I wonder if the Undersea Lab can really handle all these kids." Haruka replied.

"I wouldn't underestimate them. They once cured Heinrich von Marzipan when he was a chocolate monster; in fact, he was a Logia-type. They should be able to heal the kids of their, um, giantosis."

"I hope so." Haruka frowned. "I just can't get over what happened outside. Those giants just… _squished_ those Minish and Kateenians without any thought. I've never seen anything so horrible!"

"Don't _worry_ , this potion should be enough to stop their rampaging. But, I just wanna say… you've been a big help." He smiled behind his mask. "In the future, I think you'd make a great doctor."

"Hm hm hm!" she smiled lightly. "Thanks. Well… we should probably fix Mocha, now." She said as she looked at their giant friend. "It's hard to see her like this…"

"Mmmmm…" The giant girl as mentioned was starting to recover, much to their worry. The two kept their guard up, expecting the worst as she stood all the way up. "Ohhh…" She rubbed her aching head, and when she opened her eyes, the two were surprised: Mocha's gray-purple eyes had returned. They weren't zombified or mad for candy. "What…What happened…"

"M…Mocha?" Haruka spoke.

"Haruka? Where is everyone?" She looked around.

"Are…Are you okay?" Nolan asked.

"I think so… my head hurts for some reason."

Nolan glanced away in a nervous/guilty fashion. "W-Wait… you aren't crazy for candy?"

"N-No… for some reason, I'm over it."

Nolan and Haruka exchanged weirded glances. "Do you think knocking her senseless is what drove her back?" Haru asked.

"I dunno. But honestly, I don't have the strength to beat up a swarm of giant kids. We better use this antidote."

"Huh? What're you guys talking about?" Mocha asked with worry.

Haruka looked up at her with a sorrowful look. "Mocha… there's something you need to see. Come on, we have to find the other kids."

"Take this." Nolan said, tossing her the syringe. "I'm going to skim this place and see if Caesar has any weaknesses. I may need to if I'm to stand a chance against his Airless power."

"But what if the gas comes?" Haru asked.

"I'll pull through. Just get going."

"Okay… Come on, Mocha." The girl nodded and allowed Haruka onto her hands before hurrying down the hall.

Nolan watched them leave with an anxious look before searching the laboratory for clues.

As Mocha carried her friend down the vacant hall, she could only feel worried. Tonight, she was just hoping to have another slumber party with her friends, playing Truth or Dare, Hide-and-Seek, Leap-frog… Why did Haruka look so concerned? Who was that man? Where _were_ her friends? Are they… okay?

_Flap… Flap…_

"Psst, Mocha, stop." Haruka told her in a hushed tone as they stopped before an intersected, rightward hall. Mocha backed against the wall before the corner as they listened.

From down the hall, Monet held a huge, orange-wrapped candy in her talons as she flapped along. "Good thing I was able to hold back the gas with my ice. If I wasn't able to get this candy, Caesar would've killed me."

"Quick, hide me!" Haruka told Mocha. The giant girl looked around frantically before decided to drop Haruka down the back of her shirt. The Dimalanta held the edge of her shirt and peeped up as Mocha turned to face Monet when she came.

"Oh? Mocha!" Monet smiled. "I was wondering where you were. Oh… and you look…"

"Well… my head hurts." The girl rubbed her cranium. "Monet… what's going on?"

"Hm hm, everything will be fine, Sweetie." She smiled with an assuring, but devious look. "Come on, I'll take you to your friends. Then you can _all_ have delicious candy."

"Mmm…" Mocha nodded, but felt suddenly distrustful toward the bird woman. Monet kept flying along with the candy as Mocha stomped after her.

Monet pulled out her wristwatch (wingwatch) communicator and spoke, "This is Monet. I've frozen the first group and I'm bringing the candy to the kids."

**Control Room**

“EXCELLENT, Monet! Ohhh, but be careful with that stuff. Thanks to that blasted Kaleo kid, I’ve lost ALL the NHC10 I was going to feed them in the next month. Thankfully, I’ve saved that particular batch you’re carrying just in case. It’s a stronger variety of the substance that’ll last them a whole week. By then, hopefully I can whip up more of the stuff using all the Bang Gas-Z.”

_“These children are quite needy, aren’t they, Master?”_

“Oh, you have NO idea! I still remember that day, when I had literally created the FRUIT of my research! The Devil Fruit that would surpass them all!”

_It was about 15 years ago. A new batch of kids was coming in. Among them, a 5-year-old with an orange shirt, blue jeans, white shoes, blue eyes, and bowl-cut blonde hair. “WELCOME, kiiiids!” Caesar greeted with his usual upbeat tone. “I do hope you’ll enjoy your stay at Punk Hazard! I’ll try to fix you little guys up as best as I can!”_

_He began to extract blood-samples. “And what’s YOUR naaame?”_

_“Joey. Joey Beatles.”_

_“JOEY, what an exotic name!” the clown exclaimed as he jotted it down. “Are you from Australia? Shurororo! Enjoy your stay, HAVE some candy!” He gave the boy the tiny, poisonous butterscotch._

_As Caesar went around to take other samples, Joey only looked at the candy with disgust._

_A couple days passed. Joey wasn’t enjoying his stay at all. He wasn’t that into butterscotch, and he was already starving. He decided to leave the other frolicking kids as he searched the laboratory for a kitchen or something. He made his way to a storage room, where there sat a pedestal with a curtain over it. Joey approached the stand and pulled the cloth off._

_“Whooooaa!” His eyes sparkled with wonder. There sat a big, ball-shaped, green fruit with little dark-green circles. He didn’t understand what it was… but it looked so tasty._

_The little 5-year-old bounced up and down before he managed to knock the fruit off its perch. He picked it up and started to munch away, savoring the taste. “Ohhhh…” The tasty sensation didn’t last long. His stomach started to feel really woozy. And his body… felt…_

_“I guaranTEE you, Doflamingo, you won’t be disappointed!” Caesar exclaimed in his phone as he stepped down the hall. “The Mammal-Mammal Fruit is my greatest work ever! Once you see its power in action,” he opened the storage room door, “you will NEVER want it to leave your sight… IT’S GOOOONE!!!”_

_Indeed, the tasty fruit was gone from its perch. All that remained were a few tiny crumbs beside the cloth that covered it. “What?!” Caesar dropped his phone and began frantically searching the ground. “Where is it? Where is it? Where IS it?!” He cried to the heavens, “NNNOOOOOO!”_

_Unbeknownst to him, a tiny, green spider clutched the opposite side of the pedestal._

_A few more days passed. Joey remained hidden from Caesar’s minions, in the form of whatever tiny bug he wanted to be. He mostly hung around the playroom, as a fly on the wall as he watched the frolicking bunch. He noticed the giant kids seemed to be getting progressively slower. He decided to buzz around the base and search for Caesar. He spied from outside his laboratory as the clown spoke with Vergo. “How long do you think those giants will last?” The latter asked._

_“Ohhhh I’d give about 3 days at best.” Caesar said. “Those kids overstayed their welcome. Which is good because I’ll need to harvest a bunch MORE Devil Fruits to make up for losing that Mammal-Mammal. Speaking of which, WHERE is that Joey kid?! I haven’t seen him in days and he’s LATE for his checkup!”_

_“Finding him has been surprisingly difficult. I wouldn’t be surprised if he…_ escaped _somehow.”_

_“Siiigh. Well, with any luck, they’ll kill him if they deem him freaky enough. So anyway, your boss is sending over a new intern, isn’t he?”_

_“Yes, her name is Monet. She seems eager to work with you.”_

_“I’m eager to meet her, shurororororo!” And Joey left as quick as he could, becoming a bird and soaring away from the island._

“Hoooo… the Mammal-Mammal Fruit was going to be my prize.” Caesar moaned. “And that DREADFUL Beatles kid stole it from me. Ohhh, he’s probably out showing it off to ALL the ladies.”

_"Hm hm, we still don't really know if he did it. Even if he disappeared around the same time the fruit was stolen…"_

"Siiigh, no matter. When all this is done, I'll hopefully be able to make something better. So whatever you do, DON'T lose that candy!"

**With Monet**

"Hm hm, whatever you say, Caesar!" And the bird-woman hung up. Behind her, Haruka and Mocha still looked concerned.

**Biscuit Room**

Monet unfroze the entrance and flapped into the still-blizzarding playroom. Mocha gasped with horror: all of her friends were frozen and bore monstrous expressions. She saw that Maddy and Dillon were frozen as well. "Hm hm hm, you can rest easy now, kids!" Monet beamed as she flew over to unfreeze their heads. "I've brought your candy."

_"Nnnn caaaaandyyyyy."_

"Don't worry, you'll get some, but we'll have to distribute evenly. I've only brought so much."

"H…Haruka?" Mocha spoke lowly, horrified at seeing her friends like that. "What's going on?..."

"I'll explain later, but you have to stop her from feeding them those candies!"

"Mmmm…" Mocha watched as Monet set the bundle on the ground and was about to open it. "Noo!!"

"Oh?" Monet flapped up, surprised when Mocha charged over and rammed her friends' ice cubes.

"Don't worry, guys! I'll get you out!"

Haruka hopped out of her shirt and said, "Save them later, Mocha, just get that candy away!"

"R-Right!" Mocha grabbed the bundle in both arms and tried to make for the exit. However, Monet breezed in her way and froze the entrance again.

"Hm hm, now, Mocha, it's only fair to share with your friends!"

"Nnnnn!" Mocha still clutched the candy tight. Now more than ever, she thought it was a really bad idea to let Monet have it.

"Grrrr!" Haruka growled at the bird-woman. She looked to her frozen friends and said, "Don't worry guys, I'll get you out!" She attempted to blow poison gas on the ice, but the blizzarding winds were just too strong.

"Sooo sorry, little Haru." Monet smiled wittingly. "Your friends have a new interest for ice-sculpture modeling. And I must say, they look positively…" However, she noticed something was off: one of the ice cubes were empty, and it was shaped like Zach. "Huh? Where is…"

"Ahhhh, sorry for the disturbance."

"Huh?"

A few feet away, Zach wore nothing but a towel around his waist as he blew-dry his hair with a blow-dryer. "Ahhh, nothing warms after a shower better than a niiiice blow-dry."

"WE DON'T HAVE ANY SHOWERS IN HERE!!" Monet screamed.

"Hm? Oh, I guess my head was a little numb from all the frostbite. Yo, Maddy, you want some?"

He aimed the blow-dryer at his sister and Dillon, and their ice dissolved in seconds. "There's no WAY that thing is hot enough to melt my ice! !" Monet yelled, her teeth becoming sharp.

"Never underestimate my brother when he watches TV…" Maddy figured.

"How're we gonna unfreeze the other kids?" Dillon asked.

"No problem!" Zach assured. "Just lemme get rid-a all this snow."

He turned up a random thermostat, and the snow dissolved into steam. The "Sexy Jutsu" theme from _Naruto_ started to play as Zach relaxed in a steaming hot-tub, wearing only swim trunks as a bunch of pretty girls in bathing suits surrounded him. "Did Ah tell you girls I'm a real pro at Yipper Duels GX Plus?" he spoke in a smooth tone.

Haru and Maddy poked their heads up with disbelieved looks. "I will never understand where my brother acquires these resources."

"Bo-bobo Kempo is truly the whacked-up fighting style that works." Haruka said.

As the song came to an end, the ice holding the hostage kids melted, and they were freed. _"Caaaandyyyy."_

With that, all the pretty girls disappeared in puffs of smoke. "Hehe! I combined my Shadow Clone and Sexy Jutsu!"

"DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE A NINJA NOW, TOO!" They all screamed.

"CAAANDYYYY!" The swarm of giants and other kids immediately charged for the huge wrapped bundle.

Haruka blasted a cloud of gas in their way and yelled, "MOCHA, get the candy!"

"Right!" The giant grabbed the bundle and bolted toward the door.

"Now if only I can stick this syringe inside them." Haruka mentioned.

"No problem, I'll distract 'em, then you stick it in!" Zach declared.

"How can YOU distract them?" Maddy asked.

"'Cause I've been drinkin' MILK!"

Music started to play as a bunch of cows in tutus twirled into the room, dancing gracefully in a perfect row beside Zach. The monstrified kids stared with confusion as they stopped and seemed to pay no mind to the candy anymore. The squad of cows and Zach made a few more poses before the song "Drink Your Milk" began.

"…CRUD I forgot the words!" Zach said immediately. His friends did the anime-style falling animation.

"CANDYYYYY!!!" The hoard of kids trampled Zach and the cows and bolted after Mocha.

"Oh no!" Haruka ran to try and stick one of the kids, but Monet flapped down and grabbed the syringe in her talons.

"Hm hm hm!" the bird-woman smirked.

"You know, you are REALLY annoying!"

"Sticks and stones don't hurt MY wings-" A fireball suddenly pelted her from the side, forcing her to drop the syringe.

Crystal caught the potion in her hand and aimed her staff at Monet. "You'll not be getting in OUR way anymore."

"Hm hm. Wanna have another go, huh?"

"Kids, here!" Crystal tossed Dillon the syringe. "I'll hold this witch off."

"Come ooon, let's go help Mocha!" Haruka rushedly told them before running off, the kids following quickly.

"You know, you shouldn't rob kids of their candy." Monet smiled at the purple-haired woman. "If they grow up on solely fruit and vegetables, they may turn into very dull people."

"At least they would grow up at all. You're trying to rob them of their lives and I'm going to stop you."

"Hm hm hm… you humans need to know your limits. It's time… I show you what a freak is truly capable of." (Play "Majestic Wings" from _Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance_.) Monet threw her wings open and unleashed another strong blizzard around the playroom, freezing the exit shut. The werebird twirled and shot beneath the snow, burrowing beneath before popping up behind Crystal. The witch raised her staff to defend as Monet grabbed it in her talons. They played tug-o-war before Crystal yanked the staff back, and Monet flew back. The wereharpy stood and smirked deviously at the witch.

 

_Boss fight: Monet Sinclaire_

Crystal twirled her staff and blasted fireballs, but Monet twirled away and dove beneath the snow. Crystal kept her guard up as Monet popped up from her left, the witch jumping back and pelting Monet's face with fireballs. The harpy swatted them away and flew to the air, gracefully gliding around the room as snow fell from her wings. She finally faced Crystal and flapped her wings quickly, her huge wings blowing Crystal back with a strong wind. Crystal stuck her staff in the snow to stand her ground, but when Monet stopped, the harpy zipped forward and scratched her against the chest with her talons.

Monet tried to force her talons against Wiccan again, but the witch jumped left and blasted fireballs at her again. Monet ran along the ground and avoided as she dashed to Crystal and swung her talons to slash her face. Crystal managed to catch Monet's talons around her staff, and she twirled her staff to make the werebird dizzy, giving Crystal the chance to deal a few whacks to the head.

Monet pulled away and drew out dual-swords, holding one in each talon. She clashed her blades against Crystal's staff from midair before flying behind and slashing Crystal's back. Crystal spun around with a forceful swing of her staff, but Monet jumped and attempted to slash her side, but Crystal jumped back. The witch twirled and spun her staff in attempt to hit Monet, but the bird-woman flew overhead and crossed her swords in an 'X' as she came down for a Ground Pound. Crystal was forced into the deep snow, and as she recovered, Monet glided behind her and formed a row of icy spikes from the ground. With that, she hovered in front of Crystal and forcefully flapped her wings again, slowly pushing Crystal toward the spikes. The witch struggled to stand her ground more than ever, glancing back at the incoming spikes. She squinted her eyes to see the dial on her staff, turning the arrow to point at a shockwave symbol.

"HAAAAH!" Crystal leapt high into the air and jabbed her staff down to create a powerful shockwave. The force was strong enough to smash the ice and blow a wave of snow. Monet burrowed beneath the snow and came back up, unprepared when Crystal ran for her and dealt more whacks to the head. Monet flew up and started to run along the walls near the ceiling, jumping at Crystal every few seconds to slash with her swords. This routine lasted for several seconds until Monet shot beneath the snow and popped up beneath Crystal, sending the witch into the air.

Still beneath the witch, Monet smirked and tossed her swords straight up, sticking Crystal to the ceiling by the sides of her shirt. Monet kept her wicked smile as she spun around the snow beneath Crystal and formed a tall, pointy ice-spike. Crystal glanced down, terrified at the pointy ice. Monet flew up and pulled the swords out, allowing Crystal to fall. The witch twirled her staff quickly as she did another forceful smash-down, destroying the huge spike.

Angered, Monet shot down and swung her blades quicker, but Crystal was still able to defend. The werebird decided to burrow beneath the snow again and move around to pop up and surprise Crystal. Crystal blocked from each of her shots, but Monet kept the routine going. Crystal decided to perform another Ground Pound and blasted all the snow away, revealing Monet underneath. Crystal shot more fireballs before Monet defended with swords.

The werebird flapped to the side of the room and shot at Crystal, blades aimed at both sides as she attempted to slice the witch at high speed. Crystal jumped the werebird's strikes, but was slowly running out of breath as she had to keep jumping. She studied Monet's movements carefully to time her attack just right. Crystal made sure her dial was set, before she leaped into the air, and CRUSHED Monet's back with another forceful Ground Pound.

The harpy dropped the swords and stood up, feeling very dizzy. Finally, Monet plopped onto the snow front-first, unconscious. "Hmm." Crystal smiled with victory and twirled her staff once more. "I've been through with bullies like you since high school. Hm… but I never would've been able to get this far without Nolan. Siiiigh." She sighed sadly. "He must think so little of me… well, there's always hope." (End song.)

In seconds, all of the snow in the room dissolved, and so did the frozen exits. At that instant, the Bang Gas-Z started to flow in from the front entrance. "Uh-oh. It's time to leave." She immediately hurried out of the back exit, leaving Monet's unconscious body to be swallowed in the cloud.

**With Haruka**

The Dimalanta girl started to pant as she ran aimlessly about the halls. She and the others decided to split up to find the kids faster, but looking back, it might not’ve been the best idea. But when she came into a hall which her previous hall intersected with, she saw Mocha run by from the left, still holding the candy bundle. “Mocha!”

“Haruka!” The giant stopped with surprise.

“CAANDYYYYY!” The swarm of starving kids was still after them.

“Ahhh, let’s go!” Haruka yelled as Mocha grabbed and set her on her head, continuing to run.

“Huff, huff! Haruka!” Mocha panted tiredly. “What’s going on?? What’s happened to them?”

“Siiigh… This is what I wanted to show you.” Haruka spoke with regret. “This is what Caesar’s been doing to all of you.”

“M-Master??” Hurt shone in Mocha’s eyes as she kept running. “I thought…I thought he was trying to heal us!”

“There was never anything WRONG with you!” Haruka yelled, her midnight-blue eyes flowing with tears. “Caesar’s been… he’s been using you as test subjects! That candy you’ve been eating is a dangerous drug that hurts your body. And if you keep eating it, you’ll all die!”

“! !” Mocha’s eyes shrunk with horror. “But Master said… we would all get to go home.”

“He was NEVER going to let you go home! He was planning to let you all die!” Every word made Haruka’s tears spill faster. “He’s…He’s a terrible man. A terrible person who treats you all as guinea pigs. Only keeping you alive as long as his experiments would allow. I don’t know HOW many other kids might’ve died before you!”

“Haruka… why are you crying?”

Another sniffle. “If I’d’ve known what was happening… I wou-…I would’ve come here a lot sooner. These kids were all so innocent… they just wanted to live carefree lives. But Caesar came and…and he’s taking it all away from them! Taking away all their futures, all their freedom… I just can’t STAND people like that. That’s why… I joined Kids Next Door in the first place. So I can STOP people like him. But if only I knew… sooner…”

“Are we-…Are we going to be okay? Haruka?…”

Haruka sniffled once more and wiped the tears, her eyes becoming serious. “We will, Mocha. Because that man in there? He was Mr. York. He’s the exact _opposite_ of Caesar. A long time ago, he saved the entire Kids Next Door from someone worse. He’s a great person, and he’s going to STOP Caesar.”

“Do you really think so?”

“I do.” Haruka smiled with confidence. “Mr. York will _never_ let Caesar get away, and he won’t rest until Caesar is defeated. As long as he’s with us… we’re all going to be okay.”

**Laboratory**

“Hmmmm.” Nolan York skimmed every little corner of the laboratory with Detective Vision, but couldn’t find a thing. “If Caesar _is_ keeping any secrets in here, he’s keeping them good. But I’m not sure if I can last against him with that Airless World thing, so I have to find something. Oh?” His goggles picked up a glowing, orange-door, the closet. Nolan rolled over and opened the door, and his vision marked several rows of spray cans. He took one and studied it. “Explosive Gel? Hm, I wasn’t able to make _this_ yet. I’ll take it… but it still might not help me against Caesar. Oh-?” He turned and saw a faint purple gas leaking under the room’s exit.

“Yuh-oh. Guess the gas finally caught up. Man, I hope the others are safe. If this gas mutates you, do you lose your humanity, too? That’s not worth finding out. I gotta find a way out…” He skimmed the room again and noticed a particular vent leading below the floor, and seemed big enough for his chair. “Well… it’s one way.”

The Sandman rolled over, stood, and struggled to lift his heavy wheelchair above the chute, allowing it to fall in. With that, the half-crippled man climbed in as well, plummeting the long drop. _“Aaaaaaa_ AAAHH- UUH!” He collided onto his wheelchair at the bottom. He recovered and sat on right, examining the area. “A garbage chute? Aw, great…” His voice echoed. “Well, this is as good a place as any to search for weaknesses. Let’s see...” He used his Detective Vision again to search the trash piles for clues.

It was difficult getting his chair to move in the rugged trash floor, but he still managed as his goggles finally detected an orange-marked object. “Helloooo.” Nolan pulled it out of the trash and saw it was a small book. “Hey… this is Gerald Robotnik’s diary. But why would Caesar throw THIS away? Curious…” He opened the diary and started to skim the pages. He gasped lightly when he noticed Caesar’s name. “Is…Is that-?” Nolan shut the book gently. “Hmm… so _that’s_ why he hid it. Well then… I guess I better find him.” And with that, the Sandman made his way out of the trash heap.

**Dillon’s group**

Dillon, Zach, and Maddy continued to run aimlessly about the halls, before the three finally encountered each other in a crossroads of four halls. “Did you find them?!” they all asked. “No! Not yet! Maybe this way!” They all ran down the fourth hallway.

“CAAANDYYYY!” They immediately saw the last of the swarm of kids run by.

“I think that was them!” Maddy remarked as they hurried after.

“CANDYYYY!” The children were dead set on catching the fleeing Mocha.

Dillon raised the syringe as he panted, “They’re moving too fast, I hope I can stick them!” He ran faster and was catching up to some of the smaller children. “Hey, guuuuys! Wait up, you need to take this!”

“AAAAHH?” They looked back, seeing Dillon running with the syringe. In their monstrous eyes, he and his friends took the form of hideous monsters, wishing to feast on their flesh. “AAAAAAHHH!!!” Some of the giants stopped and punched the ground before them, blowing the kids back. “CAANDYYYYY!” With that, they were still focused on catching Mocha.

“Huff, huff, I don’t know, how long I can keep this up, huff, huff.” Mocha panted, becoming more tired by the minute.

“You have to keep running!” Haruka yelled. “I’ll try and hold them off!” She jumped off Mocha’s head and released a cloud of Sleeping Gas.

 _“Nyyyyaaaahhhh.”_ The kids stopped and tried to shake the gas away.

“Way to go, Haru.” Dillon panted as the others caught up. “If she can stop them long enough-” However, the ground quaked, and the three looked up in fright as Kaleo Anderson towered over them, bigger than all of the other kids, and his eyes just as monstrous.

 _“ME no want booboo stick!”_ The humongous boy exclaimed as he punched down at them, but they jumped back.

“RAAAAHHH!” The kids recovered and charged after Mocha again, and Haruka ducked as the swarm stampeded past her, praying she doesn’t get crushed. _“Moooochaaaaa.”_ The giant girl looked back, frightened at her ravenous friends. _“Giiiive uuuus caaaandyyyy.”_

“No! You’ll die!” Mocha faced forward and struggled to run faster.

When the stampede cleared away, Haruka was thankful she didn’t get squished. “Are you okay?!” Dillon asked as they stopped by her.

“Forget about me, we have to help her!” she yelled as they kept running.

“MOOOCHAAAA!” The kids were still desperate on catching her. “CAAANDYYYYYY!”

Mocha could almost feel her legs giving out, but she didn’t stop running. She would run as long as she could until her friends were back to normal.

_“Hi! I’m Ally!”_

It only felt like yesterday since she was brought to Punk Hazard, on a ship with many other kids.

_“Hi… I’m Doran.”_

They were all so nice… they played together every day.

_“Hey! I’m Sind!”_

Now it’s like they weren’t even human. She’s never been more afraid…

_“Yo. I’m Konbu.”_

Why did it all have to happen like this? They all just wanted to go home… they didn’t expect any of this. They put so much faith… in Master Caesar.

_“And what’s YOUR name, Little Girl?”_

_“I’m Mocha!” the young, tiny 4-year-old responded happily. “Do you do TRICKS, Mr. Clown??”_

_“Shurororo! Well, I’ve been known to have that jokester side!” the scientist grinned as he patted the child’s black, messy hair. “But don’t worry, I’ll have you all fixed and FIT as a fiddle in no time! In the meantime… HAVE some candy!” And he presented the tasty butterscotch with an assuring smile._

Mocha didn’t wanna believe it… but Haruka sounded so truthful in her words. All this time… Caesar was lying. He was using them for test subjects… even though he said all he wanted was to help them. How could he do this to her friends? What did they ever do to deserve this? All Mocha knew… was she had to save them.

“CAAANDYYYY!” The kids drew closer and closer.

“Ahhh!” Mocha came to a flight of steep, wide stairs, tumbling down below and dropping the candy several feet ahead of her.

“Mocha!” Haruka ran between Kaleo’s feet, followed by Dillon as he carried the syringe. Zach and Maddy faced up at the giant as he bent down to clutch the two.

“Raaaah, let me go, gas-freak!” Maddy demanded as they tried to shake free.

_“ME WANT teddybear kiiiiid!”_

“I ain’t lettin’ you have him!!” Zach refuted. Maddy looked at him with a quizzical look. “Uh, I mean… let us go!”

_“BRUUUJAAAA!”_

“AAAAH!” The giant hurled the two away, and they took land on Dillon and Haruka, making the former drop the syringe.

“Nnnn, nnnn!” Mocha was desperate to force the kids off of her and reach the candy.

“CANDYYYY!” They all ran at the bundle, but Mocha recovered and was able to grab it first.

“NOOO! If you eat this, you’ll die!!”

“SHARE WITH US, Mochaaaa! DON’T HOG IT AAAALL!”

“STOP STOOOP!” They began to claw at her, trying ever harder to pry it away from her arms.

Haruka recovered weakly, watching as the swarm clawed Mocha desperately. “Mocha! Keep running!”

Mocha wanted to run, but the kids were too strong, and her legs too tired. “I…I can’t!” she began to weep. She clutched the candy to her chest as tight as she could. She couldn’t stand her ground for much longer.

_“I’m Ally!”_

There was no other way to go… they were gonna die.

_“I’m Doran.”_

No other way… except..

_“I’m Sind!”_

If she couldn’t make it… she had no other choice.

_“Konbu.”_

She was hoping to go home with them… she was hoping she could play with them more… after this. But… they must go… without her.

“Mocha…” Haruka stared confused. Tears fell from Mocha’s eyes as she unwrapped the bundle of candy. “! Mocha!...” Haruka’s eyes widened with horror. Was she… no, she couldn’t! “Mocha, don’t!!”

The horde of red candy lay before her. She didn’t stop… for a second.

“MOCHAAAAAAAA!!!”

But Haruka’s cries were ignored. Mocha scooped all of the poisonous candy in her hands, and munched away. The operatives stared with horror. Mocha munched and chewed the candy in her giant mouth. She glared back at her monstrous friends, tears still in her eyes, and her cheeks puffed from all the candy in her mouth. Haruka began to cry as well. She wanted to stop her… but it was far too late.

Mocha forcefully swallowed the bundle of sweets, as bits of gas leaked from her mouth. She started to gasp for breath as blood leaked as well. “BLEEAH!” She puked blood, and was struggling to hold herself up, her vision fading. Finally, the giant fell back and shook the floor upon landing, her grayish-purple eyes closing.

“MOCHAAAA!” Haruka dashed forth and climbed onto the giant’s chest, tears falling faster.

“M…Mocha?...” The monstrous kids finally stopped in place, their zombified eyes looking surprised.

Dillon recovered and noticed the syringe on the floor beside him. “Now’s our chance!” He zipped around and stuck the needle into the children’s bodies as quick as he could. Slowly, all of the giants moaned as they began to recover.

Haruka still sat horrified on Mocha’s chest, trying to feel around for a pulse. Looking furious, Haruka raised her fingers and did her best to penetrate her nails into the skin. “Grrrr. I wish her skin wasn’t so thick!”

“Wh…What’s going on?...” Doran asked as he and the others recovered.

“Look! It’s Mocha!” Ally pointed. They stared with worry and confusion as Haruka struggled to heal her.

“What…What happened to her?” Konbu asked with worry.

Haruka started panting as she ceased trying to heal Mocha, her skin much too thick to penetrate. “NNNNOOOOO!” They looked across the hall with surprise, seeing Caesar Clown. The scientist’s eyes were welling with tears as he flew over. He stared down at the unconscious giant, and then at the empty candy wrap. “My week’s supply of NHC10 gooooone! I had enough just for everyone, but she and that meddlesome Leo kid TOOK them aaaallll!” He started to weep, too.

Haruka stood up with furious, tear-filled eyes. “Caesar, you’ve gotta fix Mocha before she dies!! If you’re strong enough, you have to use a Healing Sting!”

“WHO CARES about her?! I still needed all these kids’ blood-samples to use in my Devil Fruits! But I can’t DO that without their weekly doses!”

“M…Master…” These words came as quite a shock to the kids.

“Wait… I’VE got it!” Caesar perked up. “I’ll just scoop out the rest of MOCHA’S blood and use them in the fruits! Heck, with all THOSE toxins, her blood must be LOADED! I’ll suck her dry and make the best batch of Devil Fruits EVER!”

“Master, what’re you saying?!” Doran yelled. “Aren’t you going to treat her??”

“Of COURSE not, she’s as good as dead, just ANOTHER waste of space.”

“How could you say that?!” Haruka screamed. “Do these kids really mean NOTHING to you?!”

“WHO CAAARES! They’re all just GUINEA pigs to me! No one will care if HUNDREDS of them die! My research is far more important! Now STEP aside and let me cut this pig open!” He grinned maliciously as he whipped out his lightsaber.

“No!!” Haruka jumped in his way. “I won’t let you hurt her!”

“FIIIINE! Then you can JOIN HER!!” The girl shut her eyes as Caesar raised his saber.

A glider whooshed across the halls, holding a wheelchair, and Sandman dropped from it and kicked the clown square in the face, forcing blood to spill from his nose as he blew backward. “Ga-ack!” He held his nose in anger.

“Dad!” Dillon beamed as the Sandman sat back in his chair, the glider retracting.

“For a guy who’s moralistic, you always seem to risk inducing brain-damage a lot!” Caesar retorted.

“Your brain’s gotten more than its fair share of damage already.” Sandman retorted. “But that didn’t mean you had to do the same to these kids.”

“Ohhh boohoo, CRY me a river.” Caesar whined. “Either way you look at it, the CLOWN has final say in THIS facility!”

“Well said, Clown. If that IS your real name.”

“Hnn?” Caesar cocked a brow.

“Because _I_ … did a little DUMPSTER diving!” Nolan presented the old book.

“TH…THAT’S-” Caesar looked frantic.

“Professor Gerald Robotnik’s diary. And it CLEARLY reveals, Caesar Clown’s TRUE name. And I’ve deduced, that you threw this book away, because you channel your poisonbending INTO your surname, so you didn’t want anyone to figure it out!”

“D’oooohh! I KNEW I should’ve just BURNED it!!”

“And Page 41,” he opened the book, “CLEARLY states, that Professor Clown’s FULL name, iiiis:… Caesar Jonathan DIMALANTA!”

 _DON!_ Dillon was shocked.

 _DON!_ Maddy’s eyes widened.

 _DON!_ Zach was totally baffled.

 _DOOON!!!_ The color faded from Haruka’s face.

“Uaaaaackkk!” Caesar choked. “ _Ohhhhh_ it’s true, it’s TRUU-U-U-UE! My name is CAESAR Dimalanta! My brother was Jerome Dimalanta, who had a son named John MATTHEW Dimalanta! I’m little Haru’s great-uncle, shurororo!”

“…” Haruka looked like a zombie.

“Ooooh but now that the secret’s out, I can’t use my Airless World any more! But that doesn’t matter! I’m STILL a Logia-type! After all, since I channeled the energy into just my surname, I STILL have plenty of power to spare! COME ALONG, Sandman, I DARE you to face me!” And the gassy clown was soaring down the hall.

“Grrr! You kids, hurry up and get somewhere safe, I’ll stop him!” And Sandman was rolling after him.

“…”

“Haruka?” Dillon looked concerned for his friend.

“….!” Haruka shook out of her trance, bending over Mocha. “Mocha!” She pressed her ear to Mocha’s chest, trying to find a pulse.

“M…Mocha…” Doran and the kids began to weep.

“Is what Master said true?” Ally asked.

“She sacrificed herself to save us…” Konbu wept.

“…MOCHAAAAA!” In seconds, all of the kids began to cry. Some normal kids picked up Kateenians, Minish, and Lilliputians and hugged them to their chests, while the giants picked the normal kids up. They don’t even know what happened… they weren’t sure why the candy was bad. But Mocha knew of its horrors… and she died… to stop them from eating it.

Haruka began to feel hopeless. She could barely feel a pulse in Mocha’s chest. Just one thump… every 5 seconds… she didn’t know what to do… this was Mocha’s end.

“Hey, shouldn’t we go back and check on Ms. Wickens?” Dillon asked.

“Probably…” Maddy said. “You guys should get going. You can take Mocha’s body with you.” And the three kids hurried back the way they came.

Haruka sat up and wiped a tear from her eye. The kids didn’t have the strength to escape yet, still crying for their friend. When Haruka looked up, she spotted a lone door. It was labeled ‘DEVIL FRUIT STORAGE ROOM’. Haruka looked between Mocha’s unconscious face and the room. She just wasn’t sure what to do…

**SMILEs Chamber**

Yuki Crystal was now on all fours, panting with the greatest exhaust. He bled slightly more as he glared up at Vergo, who didn’t seem to have a single scratch on him. Just as well, Sector W7 was trying to catch their breath, although they didn’t suffer as much damage. “Do you see how much you risk for your friend?” Vergo remarked. “Clearly, Nolan is more trouble than he is worth. It is futile to fight for him… any longer.”

“No…” Yuki weakly got to his feet. “I will… always fight… for my friend…” he faced the general with a deathly glare, “Vergo…”

“I told you… it’s Vergo…- _san_.” (Play “Victory Road” from _Smash Bros. Brawl_.)

 

_Boss fight: Vergo_

Yuki ran at the general again, only to be punched back, followed by Chimney, Apis, and Aisa, but the general spun and knocked away all three girls. Yuki froze the floor around the general, but Vergo merely jumped and zipped over to kick Yuki in the face. Aisa whipped out her Weapon Dial to blast gumballs at him, but Vergo held his arm in defense and used Armament to easily shield the simple gumballs. April snuck from behind to paint a pink symbol on him, but Vergo grabbed the 12-year-old and hurled her at Aisa, who dodged right.

Vergo looked to his left at an angry Apis, who still sat on the ground after being knocked away before. He zipped over, grabbed her leg, and hurled her at Aisa, who dodged right again. “Hmmm.” He shot over to throw a series of fast punches at Aisa, but she swiftly ducked and dodged each one. _I see… this girl was born with unnaturally strong Observation Haki. And her training in the KND has likely allowed her to develop this skill. However…_ he continued to throw punches as Aisa avoided. But he noticed that she slumped a little when she dodged left, looking down at her singed left foot. _There is the slightest hesitation._

He decided to throw several punches from her right, forcing her to dodge left. “Nnn!” She grunted, her foot still not having recovered. “AAAH!” Finally, Vergo was able to punch her away.

“Hmm?” Vergo’s left fist was suddenly frozen against the ground, the general looking left to see Yuki running for him. He swiftly flipped, kicked the Coldman away, and broke free of the ice himself.

“Oiii… this adaruto means business.” Chimney said to April and Apis quietly.

“How do you think we can beat ‘im, Chimney?” Apis asked.

“Gyoooom?”

Chimney thought quietly, her grin still not changing despite her serious look. She finally glanced to April, and her mind sparked. “Oi, April-chan!”

“Hm?” The older girl looked at her leader.

“Give us the blue paint, and make us strong!”

“Hmmm. Well, I guess it could work.” With that, April painted a blue symbol on Chimney’s back. The excited Sector Leader felt power surging through her, feeling even more excited to fight.

“Haaaaaahhhh!” Vergo turned, raising a brow at the newly revitalized Sector Leader. “FISHMAN KARATAY!” She began to dash around the general like a cheetah, zipping over every few seconds to throw kicks at Vergo. The general was able to defend, but Chimney was running around too fast for him to keep up. She began to throw her attacks faster every which way, forcing him to always be on guard. “HUAAAH!” Finally, Chimney slipped underneath and SHOT into the air as she kicked him upside the chin.

Vergo was flung upward, but when Chimney shot down for another kick, he recovered quickly and blocked her, landing on his feet. The general and the 9-year-old shot at each other and threw many punches and kicks, the two blocking the other’s attacks before both jumped back. Chimney dashed at him again, but Vergo zipped behind and successfully kicked the back of her head, knocking her forward. “Hm.” Feeling smug as always, Vergo ran to throw her another punch, but- “Huh?” he was forced to run left and punch a painted red symbol on the floor.

“Red, the Color of Bullfighting.” April said simply. “You will always attack that spot.”

“Hmm.” The general glared at her. Yuki smirked and ran to throw a punch, but Vergo simply dodged to a side so that the symbol was behind Yuki, allowing him to punch Yuki anyway. The Coldman got up and growled, but Vergo slipped behind Yuki again and punched him onto the red symbol. The Coldman looked up as Vergo leapt and punched him against the ground with great force.

The force of this punch caused the red symbol to dissolve. “Aaaahh!” Chimney shouted. “April-chan, gimme another blue!”

“It’s not safe to have so many Power Colors, Chimney.”

“I don’t care, just do it!” With that, April hurried over to paint another blue symbol on Chimney. The pigtailed girl felt more energy surge through her as she ran for Vergo again. Fast as lightning, she threw punches and kicks at Vergo, but the general blocked with his arms just as fast before she managed to punch down on his cranium. He looked around when she zipped away again, but the 9-year-old ran from behind and kicked his back, knocking him forward.

“Hmph.” He was able to flip back to his feet easy, facing the Sector Leader. He stood patiently as the girl glared at him, waiting for her to strike, and when Chimney finally zipped, he dodged right and grabbed her right arm. He quickly licked his finger and wiped the blue symbols off before tossing her toward the wall. Chimney tried to stand up, but- “Uuuwaaaaaahhh.” she barely had the strength anymore.

“It seems April’s symbols costed a bit of your own strength. Finishing you should be easy.”

“Not so fast!” Aisa declared as she leapt to kick the general, but he easily grabbed her foot and slammed her against the ground. “OOOOW!” He stomped her right foot with great force, ensuring she wouldn’t be able to stand well. With that, Vergo hurried over to Chimney and lifted her by her pigtails.

“Gyoooom!” Her loyal rabbit friend leapt and tried to bite down, but Vergo raised his Armament arm as Gonbe forced his buckteeth into the iron. “Gyooooo!” The rabbit wept as Vergo tossed him away.

He still held Chimney and said, “Now you understand how little girls’ dreams are just little girls’ dreams. They are trapped in a fairytale land… unable to perceive the dangers of the real world.”

“Hey, Bigface!” Vergo looked right, seeing the teeny-tiny Aeincha with a hateful look on her tiny face. “You put my friend down!”

“Hm.” Vergo decided to drop Chimney, stepping toward the Lilliputian. He was hundreds of feet tall compared to her, but she looked unfazed. “How sad that one goes to such lengths… knowing they can’t possibly win.”

“I’m not scared of you! No matter how small I am, I’ll protect my friends always!” The tiny girl ran at Vergo, but she was immediately pinned under his boot. “Aaah!”

“What a shame. At least Yuki puts up more of a fight.”

“Aaaaah!” Aeincha struggled to break free, but Vergo was adding pressure.

“OIII! LET HER GOOOO!” Chimney demanded, fuming with rage.

“Let it be known… you died at the boot… of Vergo-san!”

“AAAHHHH!!!” In just a second, Aeincha was crushed completely flat, her screaming mixed with the sound of her breaking bones.

“NAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!” Chimney cried with despair.

“Hmph…” Vergo showed no remorse. With that, he decided to walk toward Yuki, who was still weakened on the ground. “What I did to that girl… is just a small example of what’s to become of you. But your bones will feel more like crushing ice. How pathetically weak you were… never coming close to taking this key.” He reached under his coat to present the key, but- “Huh?” it had strangely gone missing. He looked around to see if he dropped it, but heard the sound of a lock turning.

He stared surprised as Yuki’s cuffs came off, thanks to a floating key in midair. It was then that Aeincha’s form appeared around the key, the tiny child grinning as she used both arms to hold it. “Hiii, Mr. Baka-saaan!” She waved happily.

“Oh?” Vergo turned back to ‘Aeincha’s’ squished remains, and realized that what he crushed was just a simple doll made of sticks. “But…?”

“I used my Clear Paint to make Aeincha invisible and unsensable.” April explained. “Afterwards, I took out my twig-doll modeled to look like Aeincha, and painted Aeincha’s features over it to give it life. She was able to climb up your coat and take the key.”

Yuki rubbed his wrist and formed a glowing snowflake in his palm, smiling at Aeincha. “Thanks.” He stood up and faced Vergo with a more confident appearance. “Now, it’s time to heat things up. Or rather… freeze them.” And with that, the icebender began to ski across the floors and walls, leaving a trail of ice in his wake. He skied along the walls over the factory area, performing quick cartwheels and leaving shoe and handprints of ice.

Vergo ran forth and began to jump around the room to catch him, bouncing off the walls and giant containers. Yuki dropped to the floor and swiftly slid under the treadmill of a machine, using his hands to leave parallel ice paths. “UAH!” Vergo zipped from his right and kicked Yuki away. The icebender recovered and skied away again, launching icicles at Vergo as he chased. The general punched the projectiles away before zipping to the side, around the containers, and popping out in front of Yuki to kick him upward, then kick him to the center of the containers.

“Gah!” Yuki coughed slight blood as he sensed Vergo behind him. The general punched down, but Yuki flipped forward and stood below the balcony’s railing, having left an icy handprint in the center between him and Vergo.

“Even with your bending powers, my Haki proves far superior.” Vergo spoke as he calmly stepped forward. Yuki froze ice directly below him to push himself up to the balcony. “It should only take a few more hits… to break an element so fragile. I’ll give you a 10-second headstart… and during which time… I want to hear you say _Vergo-san_.” (End song.)

As Yuki panted on the balcony floor, he made a smirk. “Fragile element… huh? You wanna… make a bet?”

Vergo stopped just above the icy handprint. “Hm?” he cocked a brow.

Yuki grinned maliciously and formed a hand-sign. _“Sickle Growth.”_

The print below Vergo suddenly glowed, and his eyes widened as a tall, pointy icicle sprouted up.

Yuki stood with a calm, cool aura, his back turned to the chaos that happened behind him. Icicles sprouted up everywhere he left a print, penetrating all of the containers and machines. In the center of it all, Vergo’s body hung near the ceiling, from the tall icicle that penetrated his stomach. “When I was young… I endured so many struggles…” Yuki spoke lowly. “My soul was lost… until Jagar risked everything to bring it back. He helped me… because I was his friend. And that’s why… no matter how much I suffer… I will always be there… to support Nolan.”

The green substance spilled and flooded the lower floor. The SMILEs chamber fell to total ruin as alarms blared. Vergo was left hanging dry… his shocked expression frozen.

________________________________________

**Hoooo man, am I glad all THIS is done. NEXT time, the climactic fight against Caesar. And alas… Mocha is dead. |L Well, she will be… soon… And I was gonna put that Vergo fight earlier, but then I figured the way it ended would make a better end of the chapter. I mean, they did the same in _One Piece_ , only he was sliced in half. :P Well, next chapter’s the last one… let us have a moment of silence for our friend. :,( Later.**  



	8. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nolan confronts Caesar at last! Now it's time to escape the island.

**Alright, everybody, last chapter! Just like _SCARY_ , _Operation: CLOWN_ ends with 8 chapters. ;)**

****

**_

Chapter 8: Escape

_**

****

**SMILEs Chamber**

Vergo remained on his icicle post as the factory below flooded with toxic substance. His cool look returned as he said to Yuki, “This barely hurts me, you know. My Haki is so strong, my body is practically Armament itself.”

“Yeah, well… I’ll just leave you hanging then.” Yuki remarked as he began to walk away. Sector W7 just stared confused as Vergo hung there, not appearing in any pain.

“Hm… your loyalty to your friend is strong… I’ll give you that. Perhaps I underestimated you.”

Yuki stopped. “Well… if I didn’t have a friend to fight for… you might’ve beaten me. I guess that loyalty.. gave me strength. Vergo…- _san_.” And the Coldman continued to the door. “Let’s go meet up with Nolan. It’s time to get outta here.”

“Oh-ahh!” Chimney perked as she hurried after him, followed by the others. Vergo merely lay there on his post and watched them from his upside-down view.

**Building R**

Caesar Clown escaped to the northern most part of Building R, ending up before a huge, steel door. He gasped and turned around, seeing Nolan York just rolling in from the hall behind. “CAN’T you just mind your own business?!”

The Sandman wore a fierce look behind his mask as he slowly rolled closer.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Caesar yelled with a fear-filled expression. “Do you know what’ll happen if you lay a FINGER on me?! My business stretches farther than you can imagine! My customers will become VERY disappointed if I’m unavailable.”

Nolan kept rolling forward, unhesitantly.

Feeling angry and nervous, Caesar sucked in some breath and cried, “OXYGEN BEEEEAAAM!” He blew a powerful blue laser from his mouth, straight for Sandman as he stopped and gaped with surprise. The beam brimmed in his masked eyes as it shot past and blew up the hall behind him. Caesar recovered and faced forward, but flinched when he saw that Sandman dodged right.

“Don’t you care about your buddies AT ALL, Sandman?! They’ll ALL get in trouble if you so much as punch me!” Sandman reached the clown, and at that instant, he stood and dealt a series of rapid punches against his face, before finally sending him flying to the left. Caesar landed near the wall and formed a devious smirk. “I have BIG NAMES ordering stuff from me! And if you think of pummeling me, you will FEEL their wrath!” Nolan approached him again, and didn’t hesitate with this next series of rapid punches.

He grabbed Caesar by the neck and tossed him near the middle of the room again. The scientist stood up and faced him with a wicked grin. “So go ahead! KnnnNOCK me around! I’m protected! Some BIG names are gonna come after you! Don Quixote Doflamingo! The Corporate Presidents! Big Mom! Percival Tachyon! They’ll come to my rescue and demand ALL the stuff from me! After I’m done here, I’ll harvest the energy from your son and MANY other benders to use in my brand new series of Devil Fruits! With Devil Fruits that grant artificial bending, I’ll make MILLIONS! SHURORORORORO-“

Nolan channeled the energy in his Armament fist, and with full force, he dealt another forceful PUNCH on Caesar’s face, knocking him toward the steel door. “Whoever these people are, I’ll break ALL their bones before they have a chance.”

“Gu-ack!” Caesar held his nose as more blood dripped.

Nolan heard the fast clopping of several shoes, looking back as a squad of Caesar’s minions appeared. They wore no masks upon Caesar’s orders. “Master Caesar! Are you okay??”

“Gu-ack… now is my chance! I’ll show you what Bang Gas-Z is really capable of!” He faced up at the ceiling and yelled, “LISTEN all of you in the control room! Open the vents and allow the gas to flow INTO this room from outside!”

**Control Room**

“But Master Caesar, isn’t that gas dangerous?!” one yelled.

_“RELAX, you fools, I’m a GAS-man! I’ll be okay!”_

“But what about the men in that room?? Won’t they be-“

_“JUST LET THE GAS IN! I’ll sacrifice anything to take this fool down!”_

“Nnnnn-nnnn!” The men looked worried. “R-Right as you say… Master.” And with that, they pulled a lever.

**Center Room**

Two huge vents opened from the side of the room, allowing the cloud of Bang Gas-Z to flow in. “Shurororororo!” Caesar cackled maniacally and used his bending to make the gas spiral around him. “Now then… WHO to use as a guinea pig? How about… YOU THREE!” And he launched the Bang Gas at three random minions.

“Gu-aaaacccck!” They choked as the Bang Gas was forced in their lungs. The men’s bodies swelled and wobbled as they grew to twice their size, their arms and legs growing out of proportion with each other as they turned into hideous, bloodthirsty monsters.

They roared like dinosaurs as they charged for Nolan, but the Sandman dodged right. He started to beat the other minions, flipping away when the Titans charged at him again, tricking the monsters into running over other minions. He boosted his chair into one of them before swiftly flipping up and on its back, using him to swat away other minions. The other two Titans were about to charge, but Nolan charged his Titan as well and rammed the other two headfirst, afterwards flipping back to his chair.

“Shurororororo! Perhaps I should’ve found better TEST subjects! Oh well, I’m feeling lucky!” And with that, Caesar tossed Bang Gas into two more minions, and pain surged through as they transformed.

“B-B-But Master!” one of them exclaimed. “You said you wanted to fix us… Why are you DOING this? !”

“If I wanted you fixed, I could’ve DONE IT by now! You fools were just convenient to have around in case I needed some spare subjects!”

“M…Master…” Their hearts were struck.

“Ugh, I don’t have time for this.” Nolan sighed. He raised his fist and cried, “Armament!”, speeding over to deal a forceful punch against the first Titan, knocking him into the second. They tried to recover, but Nolan rolled over and dealt a series of rapid punches, using his Armament to finish both of them.

“Ohhhh. Why do you ALWAYS have to do that?” Caesar frowned. “Can’t you just let people have fun? You REALLY need to learn how to lighten up, you know. And speaking of lightening up, it feels a little too cramped in here. I think it’s time for some FRESH air! ShuroROROROROrorororo!” The giant steel door opened behind him, revealing a circular platform under a huge elevator shaft. “SHUrororororo!” The ghostly poisonbender cackled on his flight up the shaft.

It wasn’t long after when Yuki and Sector W7 finally arrived. “Hey, Nolan, you’re already here!” Yuki exclaimed.

“AAAHHH, more of the minion-sans!” Chimney exclaimed, ready to fight. “Time to kick some adaruto ass!”

“Gyom-gyoooom!” Gonbe also looked fierce.

“At ease, guys.” Nolan assured them, rolling over. “I don’t think they’ll trouble us any more.” They looked around and noticed their pitiful, weeping expressions.

“Where did Caesar go?” Yuki asked.

“Up there.” He pointed up the shaft. “I’m going to catch him. But I want you guys to run back and see how Dillon and the others are doing. I feel like that elevator takes us to the underground, so if I’m up there, we won’t be able to use it, anyway.”

“But that means we have to rely on you before the gas comes.” Yuki remarked. “But hey, can’t rip off Batman without being a masochist. Or _One Piece_ for that matter. Good luck, Nolan, don’t die on us.” He and most of the operatives ran back the other way.

“Oh, wait!” Aisa spoke up. “If Caesar’s a Logia, you might wanna use this.” She handed Nolan her Impact Dial. “It’s an Impact Dial. It absorbs forces and blows them back when pressed. It’s also got a chi-block symbol imprinted on it.”

Nolan stared at the tiny shell with interest as he stuffed it up his left glove, pressing it against his palm. “This should help.”

“Hm hm!” Aisa smiled. “Just thanks for watching over Aeincha! Anyways, good luck!” The Nimbi waved as she ran off.

Nolan nodded before turning back and rolling onto the huge, round elevator. He felt the air rush past him as it lifted him straight upward at high speed. In seconds, he was lifted all the way outside, several meters above the rooftop. He sat at the highest part of the island as he overlooked the incredible view. There was nothing but miles of purple gas down below, with only the peaks of the mountains sticking up. Caesar Clown hovered several feet over the ledge, and in the air.

“ShuroRORORORORORORORO! Welcome, Sandman, I am pleased to have you here at your final show! Tonight, you will see your end as I demonstrate the FULL force of my poisonbending power!” The gas man waved his arms as a tornado of purple gas rose from below and surrounded the platform. Nolan gasped as the gas came straight down, and Caesar opened his mouth wide as it flowed inside. _“ShuROROrororororo.”_ The gassy scientist grew to two stories tall as his gaseous form turned purple. _“SHUROROROrorororo!”_ His gassy coat became a lot more puffy, his black hair grew out of control, a giant purple crown appeared on his head, and the front of his coat bore the inscription ‘LAND OF DEATH’. _“SHAAAAAHROROROROOOOO!”_

“Wow. Way to overstuff yourself with the crazy juice.”

 _“SHAAALULULUU! Welcome, Nolan, to the PEAK of your existence! Get ready to CHOKE on your own screams as you beg for death inside my gas! It’s a shame you won’t be able to watch me choke your friends afterwards, and know the TRUE might of my poison, SHURORORORORORORO! NOW DIIIE!!!”_ (Play “The Final Cut (Clayface Battle)” from _Batman: Arkham City_.)

 

_Boss fight: Land of Death, SHINOKUNI_

The gassy incarnation launched his fists at the Sandman, but Nolan dodged left and right, leaving quick spray-marks on the floor with his Explosive Gel. “The Bang Gas-Z is stronger than regular gas, but it should still be flammable.” Sandman said to himself. “The Explosive Gel doesn’t pack much force, but it should weaken him a little.”

He sat over one of the marks as Caesar threw his fist, and Nolan dodged as he set off the bomb. _“SHURORORORO!”_ Caesar only cackled as his fist exploded. Nolan kept flipping when Caesar swung his other arm across the floor. Caesar was so fast, it was difficult to catch him above a bomb, but he was able to after a few more seconds. _“SHURORORORO!”_ The giant clown spun around and sent a barrage of sludge drops from his body like a sprinkler.

Nolan evaded the drops, but they made less room for him to move around. The toxic drops formed into purple Toxichu-Z, which started wobbling to Nolan. The Sandman stuck spray-marks on the ground and flipped far away from their spots as he lured groups of Chuchu on them, afterwards blowing them up. Afterwards, he threw a Smoke Pellet at Caesar’s face and blocked his vision for the time being. The Sandman rolled over and planted three spray-marks before the gassy entity. When Caesar finally blew the smoke away, Nolan rolled away and set off all three bombs, destroying Caesar’s base. _“SHUROOOOOO!”_ The gaseous clown fell to his front, holding himself up with his injured hands.

Now that his face was close to the ground, Nolan rolled over and turned his fists to Armament as he proceeded to lay a series of punches. He finished by charging an uppercut, punching Caesar upside the chin, and shooting to the air before dropping to the giant’s head and punching his crown. Nolan hopped back to his chair and backed away as the clown shook back to his senses. When Caesar did so, he saw Nolan turned away as he appeared to be spraying the ground. _“SHURORORO!”_ The scientist began to throw his fists again, forcing Nolan to dodge rapidly.

Nolan set off one of his spray-marks and managed to blast Caesar’s right hand. Instead of swinging his left hand, Caesar held it open and launched a ray of gas. The gas didn’t stop for a second and stayed on Nolan’s trail. Since he couldn’t slip under it, the Sandman quickly whipped out his own gas gun and fired back. His green gas wasn’t strong compared to Caesar’s purple, but it held it back long enough for Caesar to finally cease. Immediately, the clown launched his left fist, but Sandman trapped him above a spray-mark and blew it up.

Still wearing a wicked smile, Caesar sucked in some breath and puffed up, releasing tiny puffs of gas with eyes. The Toxi-Gag-Z’s flew at Nolan fast, forcing the Sandman to keep them back quickly with his gas gun. He flipped and left more spray-marks, but it was difficult getting them to fly above and keep away. A few of the Toxi-Gags covered Sandman’s face, but his gas mask managed to protect before he sprayed them away. He used his gas gun to hold them over his spray-marks, quickly detonating the bombs and taking them out.

With the Toxi-Gags gone, Nolan watched as Caesar sucked in another breath, charging his Oxygen Beam. The Sandman charged his chair, and just when Caesar blasted, Nolan boosted forward and avoided the beam. While Caesar was still holding it, he didn’t notice Sandman leaving three more spray-marks before his base. When Caesar finally stopped, Nolan backed away and set off the bombs, causing Caesar to topple over again. _“SHUROOOO!”_

With that, Nolan rolled forward and laid the second round of Armament punches against his face. After he finished, Nolan gripped Caesar’s face forcefully in his left hand, while he sprayed Explosive Gel with his right. He set off the bomb and gravely injured Caesar’s face, the clown standing back up as he was forced to cover his face. Caesar spent 20 seconds trying to form his face back together, but while he was doing so, Nolan was turned around and spraying Explosive Gel in his left palm. When Caesar shook back to normal, he glared at Nolan hatefully, seeing him spraying something and assuming he was readying more traps.

Caesar started to suck in an even greater amount of breath, and when Nolan heard this, he turned eyes wide as Caesar became extremely puffy. He expected the clown to blast another Oxygen Beam, but as the clown shook trying to hold his breath in, it became clear. _“GAS BALLOON!!”_ The giant clown EXPLODED like a balloon, swallowing the whole platform in Bang Gas-Z.

Thankfully, Nolan used the Gem of Dreams to become sand as he hovered high above the platform, afterwards reverting to normal (along with his chair) and using his chair’s glider to fly around. He watched as Caesar Clown emerged from the resulted shroud of Bang Gas, having become even bigger. Nolan glided around and dodged as Caesar launched his giant fists. Nolan flew straight at the clown’s face, aimed his legs out, and kicked him square in the nose to kick back to higher altitude. Caesar released more Toxi-Gags, but Nolan moved faster in the air and avoided them, flying back at Caesar to deal another Armament kick. Nolan glided up in a loop-di-loop before dropping down and bashing Caesar’s crown with another Armament punch.

Nolan landed back on his chair as Caesar sucked up all of the gas and shrunk back to his previous giant height (not sure how sucking it back makes him smaller XP). Nolan glided back to the platform as Caesar started launching his hands like hammers, smashing the ground in attempt to crush Sandman. He then started to swing his hands horizontally, smashing them against each other, but Nolan still dodged and blew up the left hand with a gel trap. Caesar formed a Poison Whip in his right hand and wrapped it around Nolan, tossing the Sandman far away behind him. Nolan activated the glider and flew at Caesar from behind, using both legs in another Armament kick. Caesar nearly fell over, his hand pressed against the ground, giving Sandman the chance to roll over and blow it up with Explosive Gel.

The clown scientist spun around and released more Toxichu-Z. Nolan did the same as before and blew the Chuchu up with Explosive Gel, but those Chu just exploded into Toxi-Gags. Nolan kept the gas puffs back with his own gas and planted more spray-marks to blow the puffs up as well. While he was busy with them, Caesar was sucking more breath to do another Gas Balloon. Nolan rolled over quickly to plant more spray-marks, backing away and exploding Caesar’s base once again. His face fell near the floor as Nolan rolled over for the third round of Armament punches. He finished once again by doing an uppercut, shooting up, then pounding straight down, destroying Caesar’s crown entirely.

The clown finally became dizzy and passed out with a light thud (he was still made of gas). Nolan approached the giant’s head calmly to see if he was conscious. However, Caesar opened his eyes and grinned wickedly, immediately snatching the Sandman in his right hand like a doll. _“SHURORORORORO! You’ve failed, Sandman! My Bang Gas-Z cannot be defeated with simple punches! Now you’ll experience the full glory of being a super-mutant! …Before you inhale too much and DIE that is! SHURORORO! Any last words??”_ He raised his left hand, ready to smother Nolan’s form.

“Heheh… yeah.” With that, Sandman forced his arms out and removed his left glove, revealing the Dial on his palm.

_“Huuuh?! What’s that?”_

“Impact Dial. During the battle, I’ve been spraying Explosive Gel on my hand and setting it off, and the Dial absorbed the force. This thing’s packed to the brim with explosive energy, just waiting to blow in somebody’s face.”

_“SHURO?!”_

Nolan pressed the Dial to Caesar’s face and proclaimed, “And did I mention it’s imprinted with a chi-blocking symbol?? Now you’re basically a mass of solid gas.”

 _“HUUUUH!!!”_ The clown was stricken with horror.

The Sandman smirked behind his mask and pressed the Dial’s button, feeling the energy charge. “Remember this, Clown: you touch my son… you’re gettin’ slagged.”

_“W-Wait! Sandman! Did I mention you can work for me??”_

But the hero didn’t hesitate as the power in his Dial EXPLODED with incredible force. Caesar felt as though a million elephants were stampeding him all at once. He’s never felt more incredible pressure on his face. Finally, Sandman broke free as Caesar was blown over the edge. _“SHUROOOOOOO!”_ He plummeted the mile-high drop and vanished beneath the poisonous cloud.

Down below, the minions jumped with a start as the ceiling blew open, and the giant that was Caesar thudded on the ground. The purple being of gas shrunk back to his normal size, his face totally bloody as all consciousness left him. His pink coat of gas faded away as he lay in his own mess.

The Sandman sat over the edge and smiled down at his victory, twirling and sheathing his gas gun. (End song.)

**Dillon’s group**

Dillon, Zach, and Maddy met up with Crystal Wickens as the group was hurrying back down the hall. “Are all the children safe?” Crystal asked.

“Well, most of them… except one.” Dillon spoke regrettably.

They scurried down the staircase as they were coming to the horde of children, who were still crying over the loss of their friend. But when the group made it past the kids, what they saw surprised them: Haruka was able to force her fingers through Mocha’s flesh, and they watched as her fingers swelled, appearing to suck something from the giant’s flesh. “Mmmm…” Haruka let go shortly, suddenly feeling weak herself.

The operatives stepped closer as the kids ceased crying and stared confused. Five seconds passed… until Mocha started to moan. “Mmmm…” The giant held her head and sat up weakly. “What happened?...”

“MOCHA!” The kids immediately gathered and embraced their savior in a hug.

“Waaaaah! Heeeey, what’s going oooon??”

“We thought you were dead!” Doran exclaimed

“You saved us, Mocha!” Konbu said.

The operatives hurried beside Haruka as she weakly stood. “Haruka, you healed her??” Dillon asked surprised.

“Yeah…”

“How?” Zach questioned.

Haruka raised an arm weakly and pointed at the Devil Fruit storage. The operatives stepped in, seeing rows of various Devil Fruits. The Bee-Bee Fruit. Chop-Chop Fruit. Mini-Mini Fruit. But there was an empty spot, labeled ‘Parasite-Parasite Fruit’.

“I decided to look in here for a fruit that might help.” Haruka explained. “The Parasite-Parasite Fruit allows me to drain energy from bodies and add it to my own, and also any kind of substance injected in it. I ate the fruit and mixed it with my poisonbending to suck the NHC10 from Mocha’s blood. Thanks to the fruit and my bending, it barely affects me… much. But I can’t suck the poison from these other kids without consequence.”

“So… you’re a metahuman now?” Dillon asked.

“I guess so…”

They walked back out as Mocha was back on her feet. “You know, I actually feel a little better now!” Mocha smiled. “A little woozy… but I think I’m gonna make it!”

“I’m glad…” Haruka smiled, still weak.

They heard panting up ahead and looked to see Yuki and Sector W7. “Oiii, what’re you guys still doing here??” Chimney yelled. “We hafta gooo!”

“Gyom-gyoooom!”

They all looked back as the cloud of Bang Gas-Z was closing in. “Sounds like a good idea.” Dillon said. “Let’s go.” Mocha grabbed and carried Haruka as they all ran ahead.

**Building R Center Room**

The elevator lowered back down as Nolan rolled off, finding Caesar’s unconscious, bloody body on the floor. A swarm of Caesar’s minions surrounded him as Nolan approached. “That hole’s gonna let in a bunch of Bang Gas soon.” He said. “Listen, we gotta make this quick, you guys have any chi-cuffs??”

“HERE YOU GO!” They all tossed a bunch of cuffs into a pile.

“YOU GUYS came prepared!!”

Nolan grabbed one of the cuffs and stuck them around Caesar’s wrists. “Okay, we need to get into the underground tunnels and get off this island.”

“It’s just down that elevator!” one exclaimed.

“There’s a bunch of cargo trains; we’ll run down and get ‘em started!”

“You guys go, I’m waiting for a few people.”

“HOY!” They all gathered onto the huge platform and rode it straight down.

With that, Nolan focused on the parallel hall and tapped his fingers on his armrest impatiently. “Come on, come oooon…”

The clopping of shoes echoed across the hall, and Nolan was relieved when Yuki, Crystal, and the swarm of kids were charging down, the cloud of Bang Gas following in the distance. “OOWAAAAAHHH FREEDOM HAAAAALL.” Chimney cried.

“Gyooooooom!”

“Great, you guys made it.” Nolan sighed with relief, lifting Caesar’s body over his shoulder.

“Hey, is that?...” Dillon asked surprised.

“Caesar. I kicked his ass.”

“Heh, all right, Dad!”

“Heheh, thanks… Now let’s get outta here.”

The elevator came back up and everyone piled on. The smaller kids rode on the bigger ones so everyone could fit, and the Nimbis and Gargoyles just flew down. Kaleo was too big to fit, so he had to wait for everyone to go down first. The poisonbender looked back with fright as the Bang Gas closed in. “Nnnnn DON’T LEAVE MEEEE!” The giant boy decided to jump down with his rear aimed down.

The elevator stopped at the bottom, and everyone scurried off before Kaleo thudded. They scampered down a short, wide hall before arriving at a crossroads of five alternate hallways. “We opened all the routes, ready when you are!” The minions exclaimed

“Which one do we go to??” Yuki questioned.

They examined the hallways’ labels. They led to Adabat, Uzbekistan, Dressrosa, Bully Island… and Cleveland, Virginia. “Cleveland, Virginia, that’s us!!” Dillon perked.

“Quick, everyone onto that train!” Nolan ordered as they all piled on the various giant carts, with Chimney deciding to pilot from the front. “Let’s ride!” The Sandman declared, and the train began speeding down the tunnel just before the Bang Gas poured in.

**Inside the laboratory**

From the depths of the gas-filled laboratory, a venomous, winged monster peered through the thick gas with glowing yellow eyes, sensing the location of the team as it sped down the halls.

**Transport tunnel to Virginia**

The team was able to enjoy the peaceful, quiet ride to Virginia, hearing only the spinning of the train’s wheels. Some of the kids were drawing with marker on Caesar’s unconscious face. _“Haaaeee.”_ A vicious hiss caught their attention, and they stood with a start as they looked around.

“What was that?” Maddy asked. (Play Heavy Lobster’s Theme from _Kirby’s Return To Dreamland_.)

Everyone looked back down the tunnel as a gigantic, demonic harpy flapped after them. Crystal and Dillon’s team recognized it as Monet, only she was much bigger, with spiky wings, teeth drooling with venom, and fiery yellow eyes. “WAAAAH SCARY BIRD LADYYYY!” Kaleo quivered with fear.

“Uuugh! Leave us alone!” Nolan demanded.

 

_Boss fight: Monet Sinclaire-Z_

The wereharpy flew as fast as the speeding train as it hovered above, and SLAMMED down on the back, causing the train to shake. Chimney felt this quake and stepped on the gas to make the train move faster. The operatives got to the back of the train as Aisa blasted gumballs at her, and Zach shot her with his S.P.I.C.E.R.. The birdwoman blocked the attacks and kept flapping, attempting to snap the back of the train with her huge teeth. The other children whimpered and held each other, fearing the worst. Yuki skied to the back of the train and hurled icicles at her to push her back.

Monet recovered and began to dash across the floor, moving just as fast as if she were flying. She leapt and slammed the ground to shake the train, then did so again, causing the bunches to bounce up to the air. A few of the kids fell over the carts’ ledges, but the others were able to pull them up. The train made swervy, wobbly turns around snaky halls, but Monet still kept after them with her pace. The birdwoman spiraled like a torpedo and made ice surround her as she shot forward. She rammed the back of the train and made it shake before she stopped.

They made more turns down snaky halls as Nolan bounced to the back of the train. He sprayed Explosive Gel on the back as Monet spiraled after them with Ice Torpedo. When the wereharpy was close enough, Nolan set off the gel and BLEW it up in Monet’s face, making the harpy woman bounce back. She recovered quickly and dashed after them again, swinging her wings to launch sharp airwaves to damage the train. Yuki shot ice blasts down to block the waves, but they didn’t prevail well.

“Uwaaaah! I don’t think the train can take any more of this!” Chimney exclaimed.

“If I’m lucky, I can probably get another Impact Dial shot off her.” Nolan said, looking at the gloved hand that held the Dial underneath. “But first to stop these air-strikes. Hmmm… yo, Leo, can you help?”

“HAH?” The giant poisonbender sat up with shock. “Well, I’ll try…”

As Monet kept throwing air-strikes, the Anderson boy stood up, back faced toward her as he bent forward in a tight angle. His butt was aimed directly at the wereharpy, and after sucking in a deep breath, the giant blasted a powerful fart and sent a huge, thick green cloud at Monet. The bird monster stopped throwing air-strikes and began coughing from the horrible stench. She flapped her wings to push the gas away and chase faster. But once she regained vision, her eyes widened at the Impact Dial in Nolan’s hand.

“Get slagged.” Nolan pressed the dial, and BLASTED Monet’s face with incredible force. The force was strong enough to push the train down faster, while Monet’s body rolled along the ground and fell unconscious.

“YEEE-EEAAAH!” Everyone cheered.

“Good-byyyyeee, Moneeeeet!” some tiny Minish waved.

“Phew… and from here on, it’s smooth sailing.” Nolan sighed. (End song.)

**Specter’s Former Hideout; beneath Rainbow Monkey Factory**

“Yaaaaawn…” The lone henchman that delivered the Vita-Z Bananas sighed after waking up in the now-vacant hideout. “Boy, how long did I sleep? Traveling under the ocean in seconds sure makes you tired…” However, he perked when he felt the ground begin to shake. “Wh…Whuh?...”

**Above ground**

In the streets outside the Rainbows Factory, people were going about their daily business. “AAAAAHHH!!!” The ground exploded when a huge train of giants and other kids popped up from below and crashed on the street, skidding along the ground on its side before it came to a stop.

“YAHAAAA!” Chimney cheered as her friends were dizzied. “THAT WAS THE BEST RIDE EVERRRR!”

“Gyooooom!” Gonbe was just as excited.

“Oi, let’s go again, on’nanokos!”

Sector W7 was still dizzy. “Uhhh… let’s not.” Apis said.

**Later…**

A few hours later, a squad of big KND ships landed down in the area, as Aaron and Rhilliane Doblemitz guided Caesar Clown onto a S.P.R.A.Y.S.H.I.P.. “Hey-hey-hey, WATCH the horns!” the scientist demanded as he had to duck to fit into the tiny door. “I’m a professional scientist, you know! I NEEEED a more luxurious cell!”

“Yeah yeah, file a complaint to the I-don’t-care police.” Aaron remarked as the twins got in their ship and flew away.

“And so solves the SECOND case of missing children.” Cheren said to the group of operatives. “I must say, much better than the Arlon thing.”

“So do you think the scientists can fix everyone?” Haruka asked.

“Hmmmm.” Cheren studied all the super-sized kids. “Well, the ones that are still short should be easy, but those big ones have probably been taking this stuff for a while. It might even be a challenge for the scientists. And even so, there’s no guarantee we can shrink them back to normal; the lab’s shrink ray doesn’t last forever, you know.”

“Well, we really don’t mind.” Mocha said. “We just wanna go back home and see our parents.”

“Agreed.” Cheren nodded. “You all get on the ships and we’ll drop you off at your houses.”

“Heeeeeey!” Chimney shouted.

“Siiiigh… and we’ll fish the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. out of its wreckage.”

“Nnnn!” Chimney nodded approvingly.

As everyone else was boarding the ships to leave, Maddy walked up to Mocha. “Mocha… I just wanted to say… what you did back there was pretty brave.”

“Well, I couldn’t let my friends be killed!” The giant beamed.

“Right… You know, I don’t say this often, but… you should join the Kids Next Door.”

“Oh? That’s where _you’re_ from, isn’t it? You guys protect kids?”

“Mm-hm.” Maddy nodded. “And we couldn’t have saved everyone without you. You risked your life to protect _everyone_ from Caesar. You should think about it.”

“…” Mocha was beginning to consider.

“Come on, we can’t wait for you forever!” Cheren yelled to Mocha.

“Oh, sorry! Well, bye, Maddy!” Mocha smiled and waved as she hurried onto the ship. “It was fun meeting you!”

“Take caaare!” Maddy waved to her new friend as the ship took off.

**Onboard Cheren’s ship**

Cheren sat quietly in his ship’s control room as he stared at the sky beyond the windshield. He felt the floor shake and looked back as Mocha approached him. “Um… Cheren, right?”

“Yeah?...”

“Um… when’s Cadet Training opening?”

**Back with the others**

“Hoo… man, what a mission.” Dillon sighed in exhaust. “I’m taking a week off after that.”

“I may need a week to get myself healed…” Haruka followed.

“Sooo, you’re a metahuman now!” Dillon perked up. “That should really help you with healing people!”

“I guess.” Haruka sighed sadly. “But I really didn’t want to be a doctor with metahuman powers. Just my poisonbending. It just doesn’t feel… right this way.”

“Well, if it wasn’t for those powers, you couldn’t’ve saved Mocha. You should at least keep them for now, just in case.”

“Maybe…”

“But did you hear what those guys said? Apparently Caesar’s Devil Fruits are made from demon material, too; hence the name. So people who eat them, aren’t able to swim.”

“Guess I’m not going swimming for a while…”

“Heheh, and Mason used to be the non-swimmer!”

“Hehe, yeah!...” Haruka furrowed her eyes and ordered, “You will NOT tell Mason that I can’t swim now!” She jabbed a finger. “Got it?!”

“Okaaay!”

A few feet away, Nolan was speaking with Caesar’s former henchmen. “Master Caesar told us we couldn’t leave the island because GUN would arrest us. He said he would try to find us a cure while he worked on his Bang Gas business. That’s why we helped him.”

“But… you said that GUN isn’t arresting metahumans anymore?!” one exclaimed.

“No. They aren’t.” Nolan assured. “If you want yourselves cured, you can go to see them.”

“At long last, we can return to our normal lives!!” the men began to tear with joy.

“Thank you, Master Sand-san!!”

The other operatives gathered around Kaleo, staring at the giant boy with worry. “Um… is he okay? We might need another cure.” Maddy said, noticing Kaleo’s zombified eyes.

_“Nyuuuuhhh…”_

“No… he’s just like that naturally.” Dillon remarked.

“Too bad we didn’t have a ship big enough to carry him.” Zach said.

“That’s okay, his friends hang out around here.” Dillon replied. “Maybe he can find them.”

Kaleo shook to his senses. “Oh yeah! Me and Beat were gonna have a wrestling contest! I should go!” And with that, the giant stomped away, quaking the ground and causing several passing cars to stop in place.

“…How d’you think they’re gonna take it?” Maddy asked.

**The Gang’s Hideout**

“…!!!” Kimaya, Beat, and Rhyme stared with the greatest surprise. Kaleo Anderson wore a wide, casual grin as he had to crouch down to fit in the hideout.

“HI, GUYS!” the giant waved. “Boy, do I have a story to tell YOU!”

“KYYYAAAAAH!!” Beat screamed. “YO, what the dip HAPPENED, Maaaan???”

“Oh-ho yeah, that! I’m not really sure, but, you ready to wrestle, Beat??”

“I ain’t wrestlin’ with yo’ big ass!!”

“Well, I am a little tired. Also, my stomach feels woozy. Ohhhh…” With that, he released another loud, intoxicating fart. The three punk-kids coughed uncontrollably in the green cloud before fainting from the stench. “Um… guys?” He poked Kimaya’s body. “Helloooo?”

**Sector DR Treehouse**

The members of Sector DR were calmly relaxing in their living room as the KNN News played. Melody and Danny Jackson were onscreen as the former spoke. _“Breaking news today as KND officials arrested notorious Bang Gas dealer, Caesar Clown, who has been exposed for his distribution of metahuman products for over 20 years. Sadly, there were a few casualties, but the remaining children he held as test subjects were brought to their homes safely. Further investigation has-“_

“Ooooh! Did you hear that, Boss?” Numbuh Sweetie-1 asked. “Caesar’s been arrested.”

“Hnn-hn-hn-hn.” Don Quixote Doflamingo Jr. grinned coolly kicked back in his chair, a twinkle in his sunglasses. “My dad isn’t gonna like this. I just hope his other patrons don’t find out first.”


End file.
